Judge hit his 61st home run of the season, tying Roger Maris for the American League record.
The 30-year-old hit a 94.5 mph belt-high sinker with a full count from left-handed pitcher Tim Mayza over the left-field fence. It took 3.8 seconds for the 117.4 mph drive to land and put the Yankees in front.
Judge watched the ball fly off the front of the stands and below two fans who were trying to catch it. He hit the coach with an arm and then a slap.
The ball was turned over to the Yankees by Matt Buschmann, who was the Blue Jay's relief pitcher.
The mother and father of Judge hugged each other. The entire Yankees team gave him hugs after he crossed the plate after he pointed toward them.
Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs in 1927, which was the major mark league until Maris broke it in 1961. The stars played for the Yankees.
Barry Bonds holds the big league record for most homers in a single season.
Judge's longest home runless streak this season was nine games in the middle of August. The Yankees have played 155 games this season and will play seven more in the regular season.
Judge's home run in the fourth plate appearance was his first home run in 34 plate appearances.
The top totals in the American League are hit by Judge. He has a chance to be the first American League player to win the Triple Crown in four years.
Maris hit his 61st home run for the Yankees in 1961.
Six times Maris' mark has been exceeded, but all have been contaminated by steroids. Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs for the St. LouisCardinals in 1998 and 65 the next year, while Bonds hit 70. During a four-season period starting in 1998, Sammy Sosa had three 66, 65 and 63 games.
Bonds and Sosa denied using performance enhancing drugs. When Major League Baseball began testing for performance enhancing drugs in 2004, some fans thought that Maris was the only one who hadn't done anything wrong.
The tallest batter in baseball history, the 6-foot-7 Judge, hit a home run off the railing above the sports bar at Yankee Stadium. He and Tyler Austin became the first teammates to hit homers in their first at bats in the same game.
Judge was a unanimous winner of the American League's Freshman of the Year award after hitting 52 homers and driving in 114 runs. He hit 39 homers in 2021, despite being limited by injuries.
The Yankees offered Judge an eight-year contract worth from $230.5 million to $234.5 million, but he turned it down. His salary this year will be either $17 million offered by the team or $21 million requested by the player, with the proposal including an average of $30.5 million annually for the next five years.
An agreement was reached in June on a $19 million, one-year deal, and Judge is expected to get a contract from the Yankees or another team for $300 million or more.
Judge hit at least six homers in each of the last three months. He entered the break with 33 homers after being selected to the All-Star game for the fourth time. Injuries left him less protected in the batting order and pitchers walked him 25 times when he dropped to nine homers in August.
He was one of five players to hold a share of the record. After Babe Ruth hit 29 in 1919, Nap Lajoie and Socks Seabold had 16 and 14 in 1901, respectively. The record was set four times by Ruth, with 54 in 1920, 59 in 1921, and 60 in 1927.
If anyone beat Ruth in more than 154 games, there would have to be a distinctive mark in the record books.
Maris was the record holder when the committee on statistical accuracy voted unanimously to recognize him.
That's right.
Ronald Blum is a baseball writer for the Associated Press.
That's right.
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