Rookie homer mark is Judge’s
Yankees slugger hits 50th to break McGwire’s record.
Aaron Judge circled the bases for the 50th time this season, breaking Mark McGwire’s major league record for home runs by a rookie, and returned to the Yankees dugout to exchange handshakes, hugs and high-fives with excited teammates.
Then he walked up the steps and back onto the field.
Embarrassed by the attention, he managed four short waves with his right hand before heading back to the bench just three seconds later.
“They kind of told me: ‘You got to go out there. You got to go out there,’ ” he said. “First curtain call. I hope it was a good one.”
Judge had his second straight two-homer game in an 11-3 rout of Kansas City on Monday afternoon.
The 6-foot-7, 25-year-old slugger tied McGwire’s 1987 mark with a two-run homer to right-center off Jakob Junis (8-3) in the third inning that put New York ahead 3-0, driving a 93 mph high fastball 389 feet about a half-dozen rows into the right-field seats. Judge pulled a hanging change-up 408 feet for a solo homer that bounced into the left-center bleachers against Trevor Cahill in the seventh. It was his fourth multihomer game this month and seventh this year.
Judge got both home-run balls back and probably will give them to his parents.
He has homered against every AL opponent and his total is second in the majors to the 57 of Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton. Judge has 13 home runs and 26 RBIs in 22 September games.
■ Yankees manager Joe Girardi confirmed that righthander Luis Severino (136, 3.03 ERA) will start next Tuesday’s AL wild-card game. The opponent has yet to be decided.
Nationals: Outfielder Bryce Harper’s return to the lineup Monday night in the series opener against the Phillies was delayed when he woke up with the flu. Washington postponed its plan to activate him from the disabled list. Harper has been out since Aug. 12, when he slipped on the first-base bag while trying to beat out an infield hit.
Dodgers: The Dodgers entered play Monday at 99-57, their most wins since the 1974 team went 106-60. The Indians are 98-58, leaving Los Angeles one game ahead of Cleveland for the best record in the majors and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. Should the Dodgers and Indians finish with the same record and meet in the World Series, the Dodgers would have home field because they took two of three games from Cleveland during a series in June.
Rockies: At 41-40, the Rockies finished with a winning road record for just the second time in franchise history, tying their total from 2009.
Astros: A double by Evan Gattis in the third inning Sunday night gave Houston 327 doubles this season to set a franchise record. The previous mark of 326 was set in 1998. Yuli Gurriel leads the team with 39, Jose Altuve has 38, Alex Bregman has 36 and Josh Reddick has 34.
Braves: After leaving his Sept. 14 start with a cut on his finger, RHP Mike Foltynewicz is unlikely to make another start this season.