New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is working his way up the MLB record books — and earning some praise for his team while doing it.
The All-Star went deep in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, crushing the 375th home run of his MLB career. The Yankees took to social media to celebrate the historic blast, adding a message of encouragement for their star first baseman.
Yankees Celebrate Aaron Judge
Shortly after Judge’s home run, the Yankees shared a graphic denoting the milestone home run.
“All rise,” the team shared in the caption.
The home run helped provide the margin of victory as the Yankees prevailed 5-4 against the Angels. Though the Yankees have struggled, Judge is heating up and blasted three home runs in the series against the Angels.
Judge now ranks No. 81 on the all-time home run list, one behind Carlton Fisk. He has a chance to reach into the high 50s by the end of the season.
Aaron Judge, Mike Trout Showcase Power
This week’s series has been a showcase of two of the MLB’s best power hitters, with Judge and Angels star Mike Trout going shot-for-shot. Each player homered twice in a wild game on Monday, with the Yankees prevailing 11-10.
“That part certainly delivered,” manager Aaron Boone said, via the New York Post.
Judge had plenty of praise for his counterpart after the game.
“He’s the greatest of all time,” Judge said of Trout. “Coming up at such a young age, he’s special. He’s had to battle injuries, but he’s in a better spot now.”
Trout also acknowledged the wild game between the teams, even though his team came up short.
“It was definitely one of the better games,” Trout said. “It was fun to be a part of, [but] the loss is disappointing. … To throw blows like that, both teams, pretty cool.”
Judge set another record in this game, tying Yankees great Mickey Mantle with the 47th multi-homer game of his career on Monday.
“That’s special,’’ Judge said. “I’m glad it came in a win. Hopefully, we can keep going.”
Judge helped pull the Yankees out of a five-game losing streak, saying the team had lost some of their patience at the plate.
“We’re trying to hit every single pitch we see up there and kind of getting ourselves in some bad counts and bad situations,” Judge said of the losing streak, via NJ.com’s Randy MIller. “I think as a group if we simplify some things, simplify our approach a little bit, hunt the pitch that we’re looking for and kind of pass the baton, we’ll get a better spot.”
Judge also admitted that he grew a bit worried by the early season slump, but said the team needs to buckle down and focus.
“Yeah, we’ve lost some games, so I’m concerned about that,” Judge said. “I’m not gonna sit here and talk about all the things that concern me. We’ve got a job to do and we’ve got to focus on the positive things.”
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