OAKLAND, Calif. — Aaron Judge is back on track. The New York Yankees slugger, who snapped a nine-game homer drought earlier this week, hit his third home run in the last four games Friday night as the Bombers beat the A’s 3-2 at the Coliseum.
It was the fifth straight win for the Yankees (78-48) and sixth in their last 11 games. The Bombers are 7-8 in their last 15 games and 8-12 in their last 20. With the Rays losing to the Red Sox, the Bombers moved 8.5 games ahead of the pack in the American League East. Perhaps more significantly, the Houston Astros lost Friday night, so the Yankees moved to within 2.5 games in the race for the best record in the American League. The A’s (46-81) are one loss away from being eliminated in the AL West.
Judge’s 427-foot shot to dead center field in the fifth, off former Yankee JP Sears, was his major-league-leading 49th homer of the season. The 30-year-old is on pace to break the American League record of 61 homers in a season, set in 1961 by Yankee Roger Maris. Judge is on pace to hit 63. He is just one of three Yankees to have multiple seasons with at least 49 home runs, joining Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth.
