Aaron Judge’s Yankee heroics put him on par with Mickey Mantle

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge is having a beast — and potentially historical — season. He included to it on Thursday night. 

The right-handed slugger hit his league-leading 39th homer of the season to rating the just run of the videogame and walk it off in a 1-0 win over the Royals, assisting New York bounce back from a sweep earlier in the week at the hands of the Mets.

As Judge makes a push to possibly tie or break Roger Maris’s record for most homers in a season by a Yankee (61), his house run on Thursday assisted him tie another legend for a various record. It was Judge’s 3rd walk-off house run of the year, connecting him with Mickey Mantle for the most by a Yankee in a single season. 

Judge’s heroics on Thursday came throughout a uncommon hard stretch for him this season. On Wednesday, he went 0-for-5 versus the Mets as the Yankees lost 3-2 on a walk-off. Prior to his game-winning homer, Judge was 0-for-2 with 2 strikeouts. He acknowledged Thursday’s videogame was difficult listbelow the two-game sweep to the Mets. But as he has numerous times this season, Judge discovered a method to pull through. 

“Especially in that circumstance, I was [0-for-2] with 2[strikeouts] What’s the worst that’s going to occur?” Judge stated when talking to pressreporters bout his homer off Royals closer Scott Barlow. “I simply go up there, shot to do the task. Get something over the plate and make something takeplace for the people behind me. Luckily it occurred with the veryfirst pitch and we were able to get it done.”

Surprisingly, previous to this season, Judge had neverever hit a walk-off house run in his seven-year profession. That’s certainly altered, and he now looks like one of the videogame’s top clutch players. Only 3 gamers (Jimmie Foxx, Roy Sievers, and Andre Ethier) have strike more than 3 walk-off homers in a season, with each of those gamers striking 4. In addition to his 3 walk-off homers, Judge likewise hit a walk-off single versus the Astros in June, offering him 4 walk-off strikes this season. 

Dating back to 1975, just 4 gamers have strike more than 4 walk-off strikes in a single season. Andre Ethier has the alotof, notching 6 walk-off strikes with the Dodgers in 2009. 

Because he didn’t hit a walk-off homer upuntil this season, Judge still has a method to go in profession walk-off homers if he desires to bringup another record. Jim Thome has the most with 13, while 6 others (Foxx, Mantle, Musial, Babe Ruth, Frank Robinson and Albert Pujols) are connected for 2nd with 12.

Andrew Benintendi, who played his veryfirst videogame with the Yankees on Thursday after getting traded from the Royals on Wednesday, thinks Judge determined the script on how the videogame ended.

“Seeing it from the other side, it’s amazing what he’s doing,” Benintendi stated. “Then to be a part of it tonight, it’s practically like it was drawn up precisely how he desires it.”