Aaron Judge closes gap with AL single-season home run record with 51st dinger

Aaron Judge moved to within striking distance of the American League single-season home run record in the New York Yankees’ 7-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.

Judge clobbered his 51st home run of the season off Angels righty Mike Mayers in the fourth inning to put the Yankees up 7-2. Judge leads the majors in home runs and RBI (113).

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Yankees pitcher Jameson Taillon, who left his start after getting hit in the forearm with a line drive. “Feels like any time he’s out there, he’s got a chance to do something special. Doesn’t matter what scouting report you have, or whether you execute your pitch or not. He’s just so good that you can make a good pitch, and he can still hit it out and all over the park.”

Judge is on pace to top Yankees legend Roger Maris’ AL home run record, which he set in the summer of 1961, narrowly beating out Mickey Mantle for the mark. 

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At that time, Maris set the record across Major League Baseball. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa would surpass that mark and later Barry Bonds would hit 73 home runs in season. All players competed in the National League.

“He’s really good. He got a pitch out over the plate with a couple guys on and he drove it out of the park. That’s what he does. He’s in a groove right now. Just watching his swing from the side, how on time he is, everything is in a good place. He’s hard to pitch to,” Angels interim manager Phil Nevin said, via MLB.com.

Judge now has nine home runs in the month of August. He’s hitting .296 with a 1.104 OPS and 22 RBI.

New York snapped a three-game losing streak. Their series ends Wednesday night.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.