Judge launches 61st, ties Maris
Aaron Judge tied Roger Maris’s American League record of 61 home runs in a season, hitting a tie-breaking, tworun drive for the New York Yankees in the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.
The 30-year-old slugger drove a 94.5 mile-per-hour, belt-high sinker with a full-count from lefthander Tim Mayza over the left-field fence at Rogers Centre. The 117.4-m.p.h. drive took just 3.8 seconds to land 394 feet from the plate, and it put the Yankees ahead 5-3.
Judge watched the ball clank off the front of the stands, just below two fans who reached over a railing and tried for a catch. He pumped an arm just before reaching first and exchanged a slap with coach Travis Chapman.
The ball dropped into Toronto’s bullpen and was picked up by Blue Jays bullpen coach Matt Buschmann, who turned it over to the Yankees.
Judge’s mother and Roger Maris Jr. rose and hugged from front-row seats. He appeared to point toward them after rounding second base, then was congratulated by the entire Yankees team, who gave him hugs after he crossed the plate.
Judge moved past the 60 home runs Babe Ruth hit in 1927, which had stood as the major league mark until Maris broke it in 1961. All three stars reached those huge numbers playing for the Yankees.
Barry Bonds holds the big league record of 73 for the San Francisco Giants in 2001.
Judge had gone seven games without a home run — his longest drought this season was nine in mid-August. The Yankees have seven games left in the regular season.
The home run came in the fourth plate appearance of the night for Judge, ending a streak of 34 plate appearances without a home run.
Judge is hitting .313 with 130 RBIs, also the top totals in the AL. He has a chance to become the first AL Triple Crown winner since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012.
LeMahieu set to return
Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu is expected to be activated off the injured list before Friday’s series opener against Baltimore.
LeMahieu has not played since Sept. 4 because of a sore toe on his right foot. He is batting .262 with 12 homers and 46 RBIs in 120 games.
Before the Yankees wrapped up their series in Toronto on Wednesday, manager Aaron Boone said LeMahieu would go through another full workout after hitting and running Tuesday.
Boone also said Giancarlo Stanton is not expected to return to the outfield in the postseason. Stanton has not played defense since returning from the injured list Aug. 25 after missing 28 games because of left Achilles’ tendinitis.
“Just trying to get him going offensively and get him going there but outfield right now seems like not in the mix,” Boone said.
Stanton was out of the starting lineup Wednesday. He is batting .146 and has struck out 40 times since returning from the IL.
New York has its final off day of the regular season Thursday, then concludes its home schedule with a weekend series against the Orioles.
Newman Mr. Walkoff
Kevin Newman hit a winning single in the 10th inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates rebounded from a blown three-run lead in the ninth to beat Cincinnati, 4-3, and send the Reds to their 96th loss, their most since 2015.
Kyle Farmer hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning off Chase De Jong and Jake Fraley also homered five pitches later to tie the score 3-3.
After Yohan Ramirez (3-1) pitched a perfect 10th, Alexis Díaz (6-3) intentionally walked Ben Gamel, and Newman dumped a two-out single into shallow center to score pinch-runner Rodolfo Castro from second.
Newman has seven walkoff hits for the Pirates. “In that situation, I just take a deep breath, go pitch to pitch and try to get a good pitch to hit,” Newman said.
“It’s always special anytime to come through. For my teammates, for the crowd, the organization just to end the game on a walkoff is awesome.”
Pittsburgh (59-97), last in the NL Central, pulled within a game of the Reds (60-96), who are headed to their worst record since 2015. The Pirates have won seven in a row against Cincinnati.
Wathan to retire
Longtime big league catcher and manager John Wathan announced he will retire after this season, ending a career in professional baseball that included 47 of 51 years spent with the Royals.
Nicknamed “Duke,” Wathan was a first-round pick of the Royals in 1971 and eventually spent 10 seasons behind the plate for them. That included his memorable 1980 season in which he hit .305 and helped Kansas City win the AL pennant, before winning a title in 1985 in his final season.
Wathan went into coaching and managed the Royals from 1987 into the 1991 season before spending part of the 1992 season managing the Angels. He also did some broadcasting work for Kansas City before returning to the Royals in a player development role, helping the club win two more AL pennants and the 2015 World Series.
“I’m very fortunate to have worked with the Royals, the classiest organization in baseball, and with so many great people throughout the years,” Wathan said.