How Aaron Judge tied Roger Maris' home run record: Yankees slugger launches 61st homer vs. Blue Jays

Jacob Camenker

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How Aaron Judge tied Roger Maris' home run record: Yankees slugger launches 61st homer vs. Blue Jays image

Aaron Judge hit his 60th home run of the season on Sept. 20 against the Pirates. That put him one back of the American League record set by the Yankees' Roger Maris in 1961.

It took Judge eight days and 35 plate appearances, but he has now matched Maris.

Judge tied the record in the seventh inning of the Yankees' game against the Blue Jays on Wednesday at Rogers Centre in Toronto. He lined a 3-2 pitch from left-hander Tim Mayza over the left-field wall for a tie-breaking two-run homer.

Judge's historic swing traveled 394 feet and gave the Yankees a 5-3 lead. It landed in Toronto's bullpen, where it was caught by Blue Jays bullpen coach Matt Buschmann, so Judge shouldn't have any trouble getting the ball back.

MORE: Tracking Aaron Judge's home run pace for 2022

The homer sent the crowd into a frenzy. Spectators gave the visiting slugger a standing ovation as he rounded the bases and headed to the dugout.

Among those in the crowd was Judge's mother, Patty, who was seated alongside Roger Maris Jr., who had been in attendance at recent Yankees recent games to watch Judge try to tie his father's record. The two celebrated and embraced after Judge's 61st cleared the fence.

Yankees legend Derek Jeter joined in the celebration from afar. The Captain took to Twitter and sent a one-word congratulation to the newly immortalized Judge.

Judge will now set his sights on breaking the elder Maris' record to take sole possession of the American League record. In his first plate appearance after tying the record, Judge hit a fielder's choice grounder to end the top of the eighth inning Wednesday.

The Yankees have seven games remaining in their regular season, so Judge will have plenty of opportunities to surpass Maris.

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker Photo

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.