Judge passes McGwire for most homers by rookie in a season as Yankees demolish Royals 11-3

ALL RISE, HERE COMES THE JUDGE! Yankees Rookie Aaron Judge hit his 49th and 50th homers of the year today, tying and passing Mark McGwire for most in MLB history by a rookie in today's 11-3 win over the Royals. CC Sabathia was sent to the hill to face off against rookie right hander,  Jakob Junis, in a one game makeup from a rainout back in May.

Photo Credit: Seth Wenig | AP

The Yankees jumped out to a 1-0 lead early when Brett Gardner scored on a Didi Gregorius ground out.  In the third, Judge hit his 49th  homer of the year to the opposite field, putting him one shy of breaking the all-time record by a rookie.  It was a two run shot, extending the lead to 3-0 Yankees.  

In the sixth Matt Holliday doubled to left, scoring Gregorius all the way from first to put the Yanks up 4-0. The next batter was Greg Bird who hit a two-run shot into the second deck in right, making it a 6-0 game. In the top of the seventh, Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas went back-to-back with Perez's being a two-run shot, making the score 6-3.

In the bottom of the inning Judge did it again hitting his second bomb of the game and 50th of the year, passing Mark McGwire for the most all time by a rookie. Judge received a curtain call following that home run, his fourth in two games. After hitting only .179 with 4 HR in 84 AB last year, nobody thought he would be the clear cut AL Rookie of the Year, and legitimate AL MVP candidate only a year later.  Sanchez followed up the Judge shot with one of his own, his 33rd on the season, making the score 8-3 after the seventh.

Photo Credit: Seth Wenig | AP

In the eighth, a Gardner double scored Ronald Torreyes, then Gregorius singled scoring Gardner, and Holliday hit a sac fly scoring Clint Frazier, putting the Yankees up 11-3. This was a lead the Yankees would keep for the remainder of the game.

CC pitched was pitching a great game up until the back to back home runs he allowed in the seventh.  After getting the win today, CC is now 9-0 with a 1.17 ERA when coming off of a loss this season.  Tomorrow, Yankees will start a three game series in the Bronx against the Rays.  Although it will be difficult the Yankees are still in the race for the AL East, but will most likely need to win out, and get some help from Toronto and Houston by taking a few from the Red Sox.

Winning Pitcher: CC Sabathia  (13-5, 3.84 ERA) 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2 HR

Losing Pitcher: Jakob Junis  (8-3, 4.39 ERA) 5.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2 HR

Notables:

Aaron Judge: 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR (49, 50), BB, K

Didi Gregorius: 3-5, R, 2 RBI

Matt Holliday: 1-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, K

Greg Bird: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, HR (7), BB

Brett Gardner: 2-4, 3 R, RBI, BB

Gary Sanchez: 3-5, R, RBI, HR (33), K

Salvador Perez: 1-3, R, 2 RBI, HR (26), K

Mike Moustakas: 1-4, R, RBI, HR (38)

Article by: Curtis Rattner

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