Aaron Judge remains stuck on 60 after 4 walks; Yankees clinch AL East over Blue Jays
Nobody wants to give up No. 61.
After doing his best Barry Bonds impersonation all season, Aaron Judge is getting the full Bonds treatment with history on the horizon. The Yankees slugger walked four times in five plate appearances against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday and remains one home run shy of tying Roger Maris for the single-season AL record of 61.
But the Yankees certainly don't mind. For now, at least. Judge came around to score twice in a 5-2 New York win that clinched the AL East over the division rival Blue Jays. The championship is the first for the Yankees since 2019 and their second since 2012. Judge and his teammates marked the occasion with champagne while his chase for history remains on ice.
“We took everyone’s punches, we had to fight like hell for it," manager Aaron Boone told his team, per The New York Times. "And now we get that opportunity to go on and realize our goal of being the champion. This deserves to be celebrated.”
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With the Yankees' postseason standing secure, pressure only promises to mount on Judge's home-run quest. With two more, he'll surpass Maris as the AL single-season home run king with 62. In the eyes of fans who don't acknowledge the steroid-era totals posted by Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds, he'll be MLB's true single-season home run king. While that's a debate for another space, Judge's chase is pressure-packed regardless.
And what seemed like a forgone conclusion when Judge hit No. 60 on Sept. 20 is less of a sure thing with eight games remaining on the Yankees schedule. Especially considering that no one seems to want to give him something to hit.
Judge's walk rate since hitting No. 60 has spiked to 38.7% (12 in 31 plate appearances). His full-season walk rate while leading the AL in free passes is 15.7% (105/667).
By comparison, Bonds' astounding peak full-season walk rate in 2004 was 37.6% (232/617). While it's statistically absurd to compare a seven-game sample size to a full season, it's clear that pitchers are avoiding throwing balls over the plate. Nobody wants to be on the wrong end of that historic highlight.
For now, Judge is cool with it.
“I’ll take four walks for a win every single day," Judge said on Tuesday.
Let's see how he feels if he's still stuck on 60 in a week.
Aaron Judge walked four times and stayed at 60 home runs, one shy of Roger Maris’ American League record, as the New York Yankees clinched the AL East title by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 on Tuesday night.
The Yankees celebrated their 20th division championship, tied for second-most with the Dodgers behind Atlanta’s 21, but not home run history. New York (95-59) secured a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the Division Series.
Judge lined out in his first at-bat and then drew four straight walks in his seventh straight game without a home run. The Yankees have eight games left in the regular season for Judge to tie or break the AL mark set by Maris in 1961.
Despite the loss, Toronto (87-68) maintained their place atop the AL wild-card standings.
Elsewhere, Paul Goldschmidt and St Louis clinched the NL Central title by beating Milwaukee behind six strong innings from Miles Mikolas. Andrew Knizner hit a two-run homer and Goldschmidt added two RBIs as St Louis sealed their first division crown since 2019 and fourth straight playoff berth by defeating the team that won last year’s NL Central championship.
The Cardinals (90-65) guaranteed themselves at least a tie with second-place Milwaukee (82-72), and they now own the tiebreaker because the victory on Tuesday gave St Louis an insurmountable 10-8 lead in the season series.
The Brewers remain 1.5 games behind Philadelphia for the final NL wildcard. The Phillies won the season series with Milwaukee and would get the playoff bid if the two teams end up tied.
Meanwhile, history was made in New York on Monday night. Miami Marlins pitcher Richard Bleier became the first player since 1900 to balk three times in the same at-bat. Balking is an illegal motion by a pitcher – often a flinch – that results in each runner on base advancing. During Monday’s game against the Mets, Bleier was called for a balk three times while Pete Alonso was at bat in the eighth inning. The penalties allowed Jeff McNeil, who began the at-bat on first, to advance round the bases and score. It made little difference to the result of the game, which the Marlins won 6-4.
Bleier said after the game that he felt he had been judged unfairly.
“It’s the same move I’ve been doing for 300 innings, and here we are,” Bleier said. “Maybe I was balking. I watched the video. I completely disagreed, but I’m biased, so I don’t know.”
The Mets’ loss put them in a tie for first-place in the NL East with the Atlanta Braves. The teams face each other this weekend in a series that is likely to decide who wins the division. MLS is understood to be making contingency plans if Hurricane Ian disrupts the series, something which could impinge on the playoff schedule.