‘Just another number’: Yanks’ Judge hits 50th HR

ANAHEIM — A 434-foot drive off Angels reliever Ryan Tepera etched Aaron Judge‘s name in the major league history books Monday night, as the New York Yankees slugger became only the 10th player in MLB history to record multiple 50-home run seasons.

A sold-out Angel Stadium crowd of 44,537 — one that included his parents and plenty of Yankees fans — cheered on the California-born Judge with an “M-V-P! M-V-P!” refrain as he circled the bases following his eighth-inning solo blast that landed in the left-center field waterfall and trimmed New York’s deficit to one in a 4-3 loss.

Judge is now on pace to hit 63 home runs this season, assuming he plays in every remaining Yankee game.

“It’s just another number,” Judge said. “It’s great, but I’m kind of upset about the loss.”

In 2017, during his Rookie of the Year campaign, Judge smashed 52 long balls, setting a rookie record that was broken two years later when Pete Alonso hit 53 for the New York Mets.

Judge now joins Babe Ruth (4) and Mickey Mantle (2) as the third member of the storied Yankees franchise to have had multiple 50-homer seasons while wearing pinstripes. Alex Rodriguez had one such season while playing for the Yankees (2007, with 54 HRs) and two others as a member of the Texas Rangers.

There have been 10 50-HR seasons by Yankees players, the most of any franchise in MLB history, with the next closest team being the Chicago Cubs (5). No other franchise has more that two.

Judge becomes only the seventh player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs before the start of September; the last player to do so was current teammate Giancarlo Stanton, who had recorded 51 home runs by Aug. 29 during his 59-homer 2017 National League MVP season with the Miami Marlins.

The 6-foot-7 Judge, who is batting 293/.393/.665 with 110 RBIs, is chasing the single-season Yankees record of 61 home runs established by Roger Maris in 1961. Maris had recorded 51 homers by the end of August during his legendary 1961 season.

“I’m not downplaying it,” said Judge, who was intentionally walked twice Monday before going deep. “I don’t like talking numbers.”

The Angels held off the Yankees with the help of two-way star Shohei Ohtani, who broke a 2-all tie in the fifth inning with his 29th homer, a two-run drive to right-center. According to Caesars Sportsbook, entering Monday night Judge (-900) and Ohtani (+600) had the shortest odds to win AL MVP, followed by Cleveland‘s Jose Ramirez (+8000) and Houston‘s Yordan Alvarez (+8000).

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.