Aaron Judge ties Babe Ruth with 60th home run, sets up Giancarlo Stanton walk-off slam in Yankees' wild ninth

Judge, who led a comeback vs. the Pirates, is now one home run away from tying Roger Maris' AL record

Aaron Judge launched his 60th home run of the season on Tuesday night against Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Wil Crowe, putting him one away from tying Roger Maris' single-season records for the American League and New York Yankees. Judge, who sparked a ninth-inning rally in a 9-8 win, is now tied with Babe Ruth for the second-most in both respects. It is worth noting that Judge is the fastest to 60 home runs in Yankees franchise history, accomplishing the feat in New York's 147th game of the year.

Judge's home run, a solo shot, came in the bottom of the ninth inning and put the Yankees within three runs. According to Statcast, Judge's home run traveled 430 feet and had an exit velocity of 111.6 mph. Here's a look at the blast:

Believe it or not, Judge may not have had the most significant home run of the inning. Teammate Giancarlo Stanton later hit a walk-off grand slam to give the Yankees the win:

Judge's effort is just the ninth 60-homer season in Major League Baseball history. He's only the sixth player to accomplish the feat (Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire did it multiple times), and the first since Barry Bonds and Sosa did it in 2001. (Bonds set the overall single-season home-run record that year, launching 73.)

Below are three things to know about Judge's historic 60th home run.

1. Judge ties the Babe, but is ahead of his pace

As noted above, Judge is now tied with Babe Ruth for the second-most home runs in a season, either for a Yankee or an American League player. He's eclipsed the pace of both Ruth and Roger Maris, hitting his 60th home run in the Yankees' 147th game of the year. For reference, Ruth required 154 games and Maris took 159 contests.

2. Maris, Triple Crown well within reach

Judge's next blast will tie Maris' aforementioned records, established 61 years ago, fittingly enough, during the 1961 season.

Judge is in pursuit of another swath of history, too: he entered the evening ranked first in the AL in home runs and runs batted in, and just one point behind the league leader (Luis Arraez) in batting average. Judge's 1-for-4 effort left him with a .316 average, which was good enough to lead the AL at the end of the night. In other words, Judge might break the AL home run record while winning the second Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

3. Judge set up the Yankees other slugger

The Yankees entered the ninth inning with a win probability of just 1.6 percent against the Buccos. Judge's home run improved their chances to 3.7 percent, and from there the Yankees' offense overwhelmed Crowe. Anthony Rizzo doubled; Gleyber Torres walked; Josh Donaldson singled; and Giancarlo Stanton -- who himself hit 59 home runs in a season five years ago -- delivered the decisive blow, a walk-off grand slam.

The victory moved the Yankees to 89-58 on the season. Had the Yankees lost, their lead in the AL East over the Toronto Blue Jays would be down to 4 1/2 games. Instead, they'll maintain at 5 1/2 games with just 15 games remaining on the schedule.

What's next?

Judge and the Yankees will continue their series against the Pirates on Wednesday. Pittsburgh is slated to start former Yankees farmhand Roansy Contreras. For those wondering, he's surrendering more than a home run every nine innings this year.