Just as Shohei Ohtani appeared to close the gap on the MLB home run leaderboard, Aaron Judge turned on the jets.

The New York Yankees slugger entered last weekend with just two home runs in his previous 23 games. Judge then homered in each of the last two games against the Oakland Athletics, and he stayed hot against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Judge got the Yankees on the board with a 400-foot solo home run to left-center. It was his third straight game with a home run, bringing him to 56 this season.

Judge finished the night 1-for-3 with a walk as New York lost 5-3. With five games left in the season, Judge is hitting .323 with 56 home runs, 139 RBI, 130 walks, 10 stolen bases, a 1.158 OPS and a 10.4 WAR.

According to Justin Havens of Underdog Fantasy, Judge is now one of two players in MLB history to post multiple seasons with at least 55 home runs and 10 stolen bases. He previously reached those numbers in 2022, when he hit 62 home runs and stole 16 bases.

Hall of Fame outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. was the only player prior to Judge to post multiple 55 home run and 10 stolen base seasons, doing so with the Seattle Mariners in 1997 and 1998.

Griffey won AL MVP in 1997 but finished fourth in 1998. Judge, on the other hand, won AL MVP in 2022 and is considered the runaway favorite to win the award again here in 2024.

Judge leads all of MLB in home runs, RBI, walks, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS and WAR.

Ohtani, the presumptive favorite to win NL MVP, ranks second with 53 home runs and 123 RBI. As of last Saturday morning, Ohtani was just one home run behind Judge, but that gap has now increased to three.

Judge and the Yankees face the Orioles again on Wednesday night, needing one win to secure the AL East crown. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM ET.

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