Yankees’ Judge hits 50th HR before September

Marly Rivera is a writer for ESPNdeportes.com and ESPN.com.

ANAHEIM — A 434-foot drive off Angels reliever Ryan Tepera etched Aaron Judge’s name in the major league history books on Monday night, as he became only the 10th player in MLB history — and third member of the storied New York Yankees franchise — to record multiple 50-home run seasons.

A sold-out Angel Stadium crowd of 44,537 — one that included his parents and a majority of Yankees fans — cheered on the California-born Judge with an “M-V-P! M-V-P!” refrain as he circled the bases following his eighth-inning solo blast that landed in the left-center-field waterfall and trimmed New York’s deficit to one in a 4-3 loss.

Judge is now on pace to hit 63 home runs this season, assuming he plays in every remaining Yankee game.

In 2017, during his Rookie of the Year campaign, Judge smashed 52 long balls, setting a rookie record that was broken two years later when Pete Alonso hit 53 for the New York Mets.

Judge now joins Babe Ruth (4) and Mickey Mantle (2) as the third Yankee to hit 50 or more home runs more than once.

There have been 10 50-homer seasons by Yankees players, the most of any franchise in MLB history, with the next closest team being the Chicago Cubs (5). No other franchise has more that two.

Judge becomes only the seventh player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs before the start of September; the last player to do so was current teammate Giancarlo Stanton, who had recorded 51 home runs by Aug. 29 during his 59-homer 2017 National League MVP season with the Miami Marlins.

The 6-foot-7 Judge, who is batting 293/.393/.665 with 110 RBIs, is chasing the single-season Yankees record of 61 home runs established by Roger Maris in 1961. Maris had recorded 51 homers by the end of August during his legendary 1961 season.

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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