Aaron Judge breaks Yankees record for most extra-base hits in May, surpassing Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig
New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge is wreaking havoc at the plate, breaking records for fun. On Friday, he added one more franchise record to his name.
Up against San Francisco Giants ace Jordan Hicks, Aaron Judge blasted a three-home run to left field in the third inning, taking his extra-base hit count tally for the May month to 25. With this hit, Judge surpassed Babe Ruth (24) and Lou Gehrig (24) for the most May extra-base hits in the Yankees' history.
Moreover, the home run was his 19th of the month, as he now leads the majors in the category.
Entering Friday's game, Aaron Judge is hitting .355/.479/.871 in May, including 13 homers. He now leads the AL in doubles (18), homers (19), walks (45), slugging percentage (.617) and OPS (1.020).
Interestingly, the turnaround has been even more phenomenal, as Judge was only hitting .174/.308/.337 with three homers until April 22.
This has also been reflected in the Yankees season record, with the club sitting comfortably at the top of the AL East with 39-19.
Aaron Judge surpasses legend Jorge Posada with 276th career home run, moves to 8th spot in franchise history
With his 19th homer off Jordan Hicks, Aaron Judge has now surpassed Jorge Posada, who has 275 career home runs with the Yankees. The 276th bullet from Judge has given the Yankees captain the sole spot in eighth on the club's all-time home run list.
After Thursday's 8-3 win against the Angels, Judge isn't fazed by the incredible May as far as hitting is concerned. For him, staying consistent is important.
“There’s still a lot of work to do,” Judge said. “Like I’ve been saying, it doesn’t matter how you start. You’re always going to have good months, bad months. You just try to stay consistent and it’s all going to work itself out. It’s been a good month with a lot of wins, so I’m happy about that. We’ll keep it rolling in June.”
“He’s just a special player doing special things,” said manager Aaron Boone after the win against the Angels. “I kind of felt like we needed a shot of energy. Judgie’s homer got the boys going a little bit.”
At the time of writing, the Yankees are leading the game against the Giants 4-1 in the top of the sixth.