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Sans injuries, does the Captain break 62? You be the Judge

Baseball, New York Yankees, Professional

August 24, 2023

Maybe you’re still rising like me, or maybe you’ve checked out for the year, but Aaron Judge put on a show in Wednesday’s contest against the Washington Nationals, once again reaching another landmark in his career.

The Yankees were facing their 10^th straight loss, something that hasn’t been done in over a century. In fact, the last time it happened, it was the first year that the Yankees were the Yankees when they were renamed from the Highlanders in 1913.

Enter the 6’7” 16^th Captain of the New York Yankees, who carried the weight of what could have ended in the Yankees’ biggest losing streak in a century on his shoulders, and etched out his first-ever three-blast game; his first a solo, second a grand slam that traveled 437 feet right over Monument Park, and his third another solo.

The Judge lays down the gavel 🧑‍⚖️ pic.twitter.com/EZ4zzRSoYR

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 23, 2023

With his 25th, 26th and 27th homers of the season, Judge notched a career-high-tying six RBIs, the most by a Yankee since Judge went 3-for-5 with two home runs and 6 RBI against the Royals on July 29, 2022.

Grand Slam for The Captain 🫡#AllRise pic.twitter.com/bYlFEgZciT

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 23, 2023

The Yankees scored five of their nine runs in the bottom of the 2^nd when 22 year-old Everson Pereira got his first big league RBI and reached first on a fielder’s choice. Judge rounded out the other four runs scored in the 2^nd with his grand slam.

3 for Air Judge 🔥 pic.twitter.com/HTa1OXFE6l

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 24, 2023

Judge, who signed a $360 million contract with the Yankees prior to this season, and just signed a contract with Nike’s Jordan brand, led the Yankees to a 9-1 win over the Nationals, scoring six of their nine runs on his own.

What a night by 99. I mean, he's special. Obviously what we saw him do last year, he's basically doing the same thing; he just missed a big chunk. He's just a special player. It's pretty remarkable what he does under any circumstance. - Yankees Manager Aaron Boone via MLB

Judge is now hitting .279 this season with 27 home runs and 54 RBI. If Judge hadn’t been out for over half the season with two different injuries, it’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t have shattered the AL single-season home run record, his own record, of 62 home runs.