Aaron Judge Reaches Historic Home Run Milestone
Aaron Judge became the fastest player to reach 350 home runs, achieving the mark with a two-run homer for the New York Yankees in the ninth inning against Brad Keller of the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
Judge hit his 35th home run of the season, a two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth, but it was not enough as the Yankees fell to the Cubs 5-2 in the Bronx.
In his game number 1,088, Judge surpassed Mark McGwire’s record of 1,280 games by almost 200 games.
Chicago opener Matthew Boyd allowed a pair of doubles to Judge in the afternoon, but kept the rest of the Yankees at bay, winning the All-Star left-handed pitching matchup against Max Fried, who exited after just three innings due to another blister issue on his pitching hand.
Boyd (10-3), in his first All-Star appearance, won his fourth consecutive start and his fifth consecutive decision, allowing four hits in eight scoreless innings with six strikeouts and no walks. He threw 62 of 85 pitches for strikes.
Daniel Palencia, throwing up to 101.1 mph, got two outs for his 11th save in 12 opportunities, helping to break the Yankees’ five-game winning streak.
Fried (11-3) allowed nine of 18 batters to reach base, allowing four runs – three earned – six hits and three walks in three innings. He threw only 39 of 73 pitches for strikes.
Fried, a three-time All-Star, was on the injured list for blisters on his left index finger in 2018, ’19, ’21, and ’23. He had a 6-0 record against the Cubs.
Nico Hoerner hit a triple at the start of the game and scored on a ground out by Kyle Tucker. Carson Kelly and Ian Happ hit RBI singles in the third inning along with a ground ball by Dansby Swanson.
Kelly hit a home run in the eighth inning against Jonathan Loaisiga, who has allowed a personal record of seven home runs in 23 1/3 innings in his return from Tommy John surgery.
