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Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hits 50th and 51st home runs of 2024 season
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Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hits 50th and 51st home runs of 2024 season

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge hit his 50th and 51st home runs of the season on Sunday against the Colorado Rockies. Pitcher Austin Gomber hit an 0-2 slider to the outside of the plate and Judge threw the ball to center field to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the first inning.

Judge, 32, has reached the 50-home run mark for the third time in his career. The last time he did so was in 2022, when he set the single-season American League home run record with 62 and won the AL MVP.

The nine-year veteran hit his 51st home run in the seventh inning as part of three straight homers by Juan Soto, Judge and Giancarlo Stanton off Rockies reliever Jeff Criswell in an eventual 10-3 victory over Colorado.

It was in his first full season with the Yankees in 2017 that Judge hit 50 home runs for the first time. That season, he was named to the AL All-Star team, won the AL Rookie of the Year award, led the AL in home runs and won a Silver Slugger Award.

Judge’s 2024 season has made him the favorite to win his second AL MVP award and potentially become the first MLB Triple Crown winner since Miguel Cabrera in 2012 and only the second since 1967.

Judge currently leads all players in home runs (51) and RBI (122) and is No. 2 in batting average (.334). Only Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals (.347) prevents the Yankees star from leading MLB in all three categories.

With 32 games left in the regular season, Judge is poised to hit 60 home runs for the second time in his career. He already joined Babe Ruth and Roger Maris in reaching the 60-home run mark in a single season, but if he does it again, he would become the first Yankees player to hit that many home runs in multiple seasons.

Earlier this month, Judge became the fastest player in MLB history to reach 300 career home runs when he reached the milestone in 954 games. Judge also surpassed Yankees legend Babe Ruth by reaching 300 homers in 3,428 career at-bats. Ruth reached the mark in 3,830 at-bats.