Sometimes, there are normal baseball games, and sometimes, there are special baseball games. On Tuesday night, the Yankees played a special baseball game.
First, Aaron Judge hit his 60th home run of the season Tuesday night to tie Babe Ruth for second-most in Yankees and American League history. He became the sixth player all-time to reach 60 home runs in a single season, and the first in the AL and for the Yankees since Roger Maris in 1961.
What made the homer even more special was that it was the beginning of a huge comeback. The blast came in the ninth inning with the Yankees down 8–4 to the Pirates. Leading off the inning by facing Pittsburgh reliever Will Crowe, Judge drilled a 3-1 fastball to the left field seats to cut the Pirates’ lead to three.
Following Judge, Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres and Josh Donaldson all reached to load the bases for Giancarlo Stanton, who drilled a walk-off grand slam to win the game. Stanton was also the last player to come close to hitting 60 home runs, having hit 59 homers as a Marlin in 2017.
Judge, who rounded the bases in a more subdued manner after his home run, exploded in celebration knowing his 60th meant the start of another Yankees victory. Not only did he make history with the homer, he also raised his batting average to .316 to give him the lead in all three Triple Crown categories in the American League.
Judge is now one home run shy of Maris’s Yankees and AL record of 61 home runs. New York will play five more games on this homestand, giving Judge plenty of time to break the record in Yankee Stadium.
