CHICAGO (AP) — New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit his 300th homer, reaching that milestone faster than any other player when he connected against the Chicago White Sox during a 10-2 victory on Wednesday night.
Judge hit the mark in his 955th game and 3,431st at-bat with a three-run drive in the eighth inning.. The six-time All-Star and 2022 American League MVP drove a 3-0 up-and-in sinker Chad Kuhl into the White Sox bullpen in left for his major league-leading 43rd homer.
Ralph Kiner reached 300 homers in his 1,087th game, and Babe Ruth did in his 3,831st at-bat.
“I was hoping it came in a win,” Judge said as teammates DJ LeMahieu and Austin Wells doused him with a tub of water.
Chicago had intentionally walked Juan Soto to bring up Judge, who had not homered on a 3-0 pitch since 2021.
“I was mad about the intentional walk so that kind of fueled,” Judge said. “Usually 3-0, I’ll take a pitch, see a pitch, kind of pass it on to the next guy. But in that situation, if they don’t want to pitch to you, you got to come through.”
Judge leads the major leagues with 14 intentionally walks. Soto was intentionally walked for the first time this season after hitting three homers Tuesday and another in the first inning Wednesday.
“It locks you in, but I get why he did it,” Judge said. “The way Juan’s been swinging the bat and what he’s done in this series, four homers, driving the ball all over the park, I’d probably walk him, too, in that situation.”
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB