By Steve Keating
TORONTO (Reuters) – New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge smashed his 61st home run of the year on Wednesday to tie the American League single-season record set in 1961 by Roger Maris.
The record-tying moment came in the top of the seventh inning when Judge smashed a ball from Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Tim Mayza over the left field wall.
After Toronto had tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth Judge stepped up to the plate with one man on.
Then, with a full 3-2 count and the entire Yankees dugout and 37,000 spectators on their feet, Judge lined a rocket over the left field fence, dropped his bat and rounded the bases to an appreciative applause.
Judge’s mother and Roger Maris Jr, watching from the stands, hugged and cheered as the ball cleared the fence to give New York a 5-3 lead, with the 30-year-old slugger then mobbed by his team mates at home plate.
There was as much relief as celebration for Judge, who had been held without a home run for seven consecutive games.
Judge had moved to within one of the AL record last Tuesday when he joined Babe Ruth (1927), Maris, Barry Bonds (2001), Mark McGwire (1998, 1999) and Sammy Sosa (1998, 1999, 2001) as the only players to hit 60 home runs in a season.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Peter Rutherford)
