NEW YORK-- New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge remains stuck on 60 home runs, one short of Roger Maris' American League single-season record. Judge went 1 for 2 with a double and a walk in Sunday night's win over the rival Boston Red Sox (NYY 2, BOS 0). The game was called due to rain after six innings and Judge would have led off the seventh, so he lost an at-bat to the weather.
"I like to hit, I think everyone would like more at-bats," Judge said when asked whether he wanted Sunday's game to continue. "I think you ask everyone in that room, we're happy to get a narrow victory and we're one win closer to clinching the division."
Judge is 4 for 15 (.267) with three doubles, six walks and six strikeouts since hitting his 60th home run Tuesday. He has gone 21 plate appearances without a home run, which is not particularly close to his longest drought of the year -- Judge went 41 plate appearances between homers from Aug. 12-22. For reference, here is the AL's single-season home run leaderboard:
- Roger Maris, 1961 Yankees: 61
- Aaron Judge, 2022 Yankees: 60 and counting
- Babe Ruth, 1927 Yankees: 60
- Hank Greenberg, 1938 Tigers: 58
- Jimmie Foxx, 1932 Athletics: 58
The tarp was put on at 9:15 p.m. ET and the game was officially called at 10:53 p.m. ET, as rain was still steadily falling with more rain in the forecast for several hours. MLB makes all weather-related calls this late in the season and both the Yankees (to Toronto) and Red Sox (to Boston) will travel overnight in advance of games Monday. The league could wait out the rain delay only so long.
"I would have considered a lot of things," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said when asked whether he considered removing Judge from the game after the rain delay given the field conditions. "Once you saw how it was raining, how steady it was, we knew it would have been a difficult situation."
It must be noted Judge is chasing a Triple Crown in addition to Maris' record. Sunday's 1 for 2 effort gives him a league-leading .3143 batting average. Xander Bogaerts, who went 0 for 2 with a walk in Sunday's game, is second with a .3138 average. Judge leads the league by large margins with 60 home runs and 128 RBI.
The Yankees are done with their six-game homestand and now head to Toronto for a three-game series with the AL East rival Blue Jays. After that series, the Yankees will return home for a three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles next weekend. That is their final home series of the regular season and thus Judge's last chance to make history at Yankee Stadium.
Judge will look to hit No. 61 against righty Kevin Gausman in the series opener with the Blue Jays on Monday. He is 8 for 22 (.364) with three homers in his career against Gausman, though nearly all that damage came in Gausman's Orioles days, when he was a different pitcher than he is now. Judge is 0 for 5 with a walk against Gausman in 2022.
The Yankees will clinch the AL East title with one win against the Blue Jays this week.