NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees captain Aaron Judge hit his 361st career home run in the third inning Thursday night against the Detroit Tigers, tying Hall of Fame outfielder Joe DiMaggio for fourth place in franchise history.
With President Donald Trump sitting in a suite on the third base side, Judge matched DiMaggio by driving a 1-0 fastball from Sawyer Gipson-Long to the back of the Tigers’ bullpen in left-center field for his second homer of the game.
The solo shot gave New York a 4-1 lead. Judge's 46th
homer of the season had an exit velocity of 114.9 mph and traveled 434 feet.
Judge's second drive raised his major league-best batting average to .322, three points ahead of Athletics rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson.
Judge launched No. 360 in the first inning, a 413-foot homer off Tyler Holton that put New York up 1-0.
Holton and Gipson-Long became the 272nd and 273rd pitchers to allow a homer to Judge, who has six multihomer games this season.
The two-time MVP broke a tie with Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra for fifth on New York’s career list Tuesday night in a 12-2 loss when he hit a solo shot off Casey Mize in the first inning.
Hall of Fame sluggers Babe Ruth (659 homers), Mickey Mantle (536) and Lou Gehrig (493) are the only players ahead of Judge on the Yankees’ career home run chart.
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