Aaron Judge gained another six points in his chase of .400.
Judge homered twice Sunday as part of a three-hit game that included reaching base four times, but Yankees pitching faltered in an 11-7 loss to the Red Sox.
Judge bumped his average to .396.
“It looks like he is more aggressive early in counts,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We had a chance to challenge him a few times throughout the weekend and he did what he does. He’s on another level right now.”
Judge was hitting .393 — which just so happens to match Babe Ruth’s franchise record set in 1923 — before his 398-foot blast in the ninth inning.
That shot moved him into a tie with Lou Gehrig for the third-most multihomer games in Yankees history (43).
“It would’ve been sweet if it was a win,” Judge said. “Try not to think about it and do my job there. Any time you get mentioned with those legends, it’s quite an honor.”
No MLB player has hit .400 since Ted Williams in 1941, but Judge is no stranger to reaching seemingly unattainable thresholds.
He eclipsed Roger Maris’ American League home run record by hitting 62 in 2022.
“He’s probably the best hitter on the planet right now,” teammate Paul Goldschmidt said. “And he’s been doing it for multiple years, too — it’s not like a one-night thing. We’re all almost in awe of him.”
Judge issued a captain’s statement on the fifth pitch of the game from rookie Hunter Dobbins, a lifelong Red Sox fan who looked foolish in the moment for saying this weekend that he would “retire” before playing for the Yankees by the time that a two-run home run landed.
“Judge is one of the best hitters of our generation,” Dobbins said. “I left a pitch up.”
After Carlos Rodón gave the lead away and the bullpen furthered the damage, Judge started a rally and tried to start another.
He walked and scored in the sixth to make it 7-4.
Judge legged out a two-out infield single in the fifth to bring the tying run to the plate, but Cody Bellinger popped out.
“He obviously had a really good night at-bat-wise,” manager Aaron Boone said. “You don’t see balls hit the other way [for home runs] like that very often. Judgy likes playing in these games, and I think you just saw a great player have a great night.”
Since Williams clinched his .406 with a big final day of the season, the best batting averages belong to Tony Gwynn (.394 in 1994) and George Brett (.390 in 1980).
