Aaron Judge hits 50th homer; fifth player to do it 3 times

NEW YORK — Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit his 50th homer of the season Sunday, connecting in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies.

Judge drove a 0-2 changeup from Austin Gomber into the visiting bullpen in left-center to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. It was his 18th homer in the first inning this season, matching Alex Rodriguez (2001) for the major league record.

Judge hit his 51st home run in the seventh inning, following a solo homer from Juan Soto with one of his own.

After hitting No. 50, Judge joined Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth as the only players in major league history with three 50-homer seasons.

Rodriguez had a pair of 50-homer seasons for Texas in 2001 and 2002 and hit 54 for the Yankees in 2007.

Sosa had four straight 50-homer seasons from 1998 to 2001, McGwire did the same from 1996 to 1999, including his 70-homer season in 1998. Ruth had back-to-back 50-homer seasons in 1920 and 1921 and 1927 and 1928 with the Yankees.

Ruth hit 60 homers in 1927, an AL record that stood until Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961 for the Yankees. Judge broke Maris’ single-season AL record by hitting 62 in 2022.

Two years ago, Judge reached 50 in New York’s 129th game when he went deep in Anaheim against Angels reliever Ryan Tepera. Sunday’s game against Colorado is the Yankees’ 131st game.

Judge had 52 home runs in 2017, when he won American League Rookie of the Year.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.