Yankees captain Aaron Judge hit his 359th career home run in the first inning Tuesday night against the Detroit Tigers, breaking a tie with Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra for fifth place on the franchise list.
Judge drove a full-count splitter from Casey Mize to right-center field, giving New York a 1-0 lead. The slugger’s 44th homer of the season had an exit velocity of 110.6 mph and traveled 412 feet.
Judge matched Berra on Aug. 31 in a 3-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox when he hit a solo homer against Martin Perez.
Hall of Famers Babe Ruth (659 homers), Mickey Mantle (536), Lou Gehrig (493) and Joe DiMaggio (361) are ahead of Judge on the Yankees’ career homers list.
Judge was selected by New York in the first round of the 2013 amateur draft and homered in his first at-bat with the Yankees on Aug. 13, 2016. Berra was 90 when he died in 2015.
Judge homered in his third game back in right field after not playing the outfield since July 25 because of a strained flexor tendon in his right elbow. He has thrown gingerly since returning to the field but also made a diving catch on a sinking liner by George Springer in the fourth inning of Sunday’s 4-3 victory over Toronto.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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