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Yankees’ Aaron Judge Becomes Fastest To 300 Homers, Reaching In 955 Games To Kiner’s 1,087
CHICAGO — Aaron Judge noticed his teammates dancing in the bullpen as he came around first. He also received a good reception when he crossed the plate.
He hit his 300th home run and did so faster than any other player, connecting against the Chicago White Sox in a 10-2 win on Wednesday night.
“It’s a great achievement,” he remarked. “As I mentioned a few days ago, I hoped for a win. It resulted in a tremendous triumph for us. We were down for a while and couldn’t get much going, so I was glad it was there in a huge moment.
Yankees’ Aaron Judge Becomes Fastest To 300 Homers, Reaching In 955 Games To Kiner’s 1,087
In his 955th game and 3,431st at-bat, Judge drove three runs in the eighth inning. The six-time All-Star and 2022 American League MVP blasted a 3-0 up-and-in fastball from Chad Kuhl into the White Sox bullpen in left for his major league-leading 43rd home run.
The Yankees broke loose as the ball cleared the wall, jumping up, raising their arms, and banging on the dugout railing. After the game, DJ LeMahieu and Austin Wells splashed Judge with a tub of water.
“That means a lot,” Judge explained. “These guys grind with me every day. I know how much effort they put in. They watch everything I do. “That was pretty special.”
Ralph Kiner hit 300 home runs in his 1,087th game, whereas Babe Ruth did in his 3,831st at-bat.
“Those guys have done many great things in this game,” Mr. Judge added. “You toss a lot of those names around to people who don’t know baseball, but they recognize who they are. “It’s a unique group to be in.”
The judge continues to impress his teammates. Juan Soto believes Judge can surpass Barry Bonds’ 762 home runs.
“Why not?” Soto said. “I believe he is the one who can literally shatter the record. I hope he is in good enough health to do it, and I want to enjoy it as much as possible.”
Chicago was behind 6-2 when interim manager Grady Sizemore intentionally walked Soto to bring up Judge, who hadn’t homered off a 3-0 pitch since 2021.
“You guys all say how he’s swinging the bat this week,” Judge told the crowd. “This makes sense. The guy hit three home runs yesterday and one to start the game today. Why shouldn’t you?
Judge leads the majors with 14 intentional walks. Soto was deliberately walked for the first time this season after hitting three home runs Tuesday and one in the first inning Wednesday.
The judge would not say whether the White Sox made the right decision. Regardless, he made them pay.
“If they’re going to do that, you’ve got to come up and drive those runs in,” he told me. “I was lucky I was able to do that there.”
Sizemore chose his fifth game as manager, having replaced Pedro Grifol. He stated that Soto’s four home runs prompted him to decide.
Yankees’ Aaron Judge Becomes Fastest To 300 Homers, Reaching In 955 Games To Kiner’s 1,087
“Pick your poison. I am not aiming to get to Judge. “I have a base open,” Sizemore stated. “There’s no solution or an easy way out of that jam, but Soto’s been the hotter of those two bats, even though Judge has been hot, too.”
Judge, who set an American League record with 62 home runs in his MVP season, is batting.333 and leads the majors with 110 RBIs. No. 300 occurred eight years, and one day after, he homered in his first major league at-bat.
“I thought he expanded the zone a little bit too much there at 3-0,” the manager joked.
SOURCE | AP
