Judge’s 50th sets rookie HR record

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge broke Mark McGwire’s majorleague record for home runs by a rookie with his 50th, celebrated with his Yankees teammates and then popped out of the dugout and waved briefly to fans.

“They kind of told me: ‘You’ve got to go out there. You’ve got to go out there,’ ” Judge said. “First curtain call. I hope it was a good one.”

Judge had his second straight two-homer game Monday in an 11-3 rout of the Royals. The win was their 16th in 22 games.

Judge, 25, tied McGwire’s 1987 record with a two-run drive to right-center off Jakob Junis (8-3) in the third inning that put the Yanks ahead 3-0. He then pulled a hanging changeup into the left-center bleachers against Trevor Cahill in the seventh for a 7-3 lead. It was his fourth multihomer game this month.

Judge was hitting .329 with 30 home runs and 66 RBIs when he won the All-Star Home Run Derby.

“The way he started, I thought he was going to hit 60, 70,” catcher Gary Sanchez said.

But Judge slumped to a .179 average with seven homers and 16 RBIs from the All-Star break through Aug. 31, including strikeouts in 44 games.

“I saw frustration,” manager Joe Girardi said. “I didn’t see him getting down. I never saw him stop working. I never saw him not believe in himself.”

Judge revived to hit .307 with 13 homers and 26 RBIs in a stunning September, leaving him with a .283 average, 108 RBIs, an AL-leading 120 walks and a big-league-high 203 strikeouts.

“Everybody’s going to say, oh, the strikeouts,” third baseman Todd Frazier said. “But I think if I’m an owner or a GM, I’ll take 300 strikeouts with the year he’s putting up.” 67