Aaron Judge brought the gavel down on Tuesday night, officially becoming the all-time home run king in the American League by getting his 62nd home run of the season as the New York Yankees lost the second game of a doubleheader 3-2 to the Texas Rangers on the road. The shot came in the top of the first as he ambushed a 1-1 slider to put himself into the record books, joining Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds as the only others to have eclipsed 61 home runs.
For many people’s money, he’s the new home run king, seeing as how each of those three have had a checkered past. That’s a debate that will rage on for years to come, but it’s still very impressive that he was able to overcome Roger Maris’ all-time single-season mark. He now, might, get a rest day come Wednesday as the regular season closes out. Elsewhere, the Atlanta Braves completed their comeback to clinch the NL East for the fifth consecutive season in beating the Miami Marlins 2-1 in a nail-biter in Miami. The Braves got a second inning RBI single from Ronald Acuna, Jr. to give them the lead before William Contreras restored that lead in the fifth with an RBI infield single on an evening where the Braves had plenty of chances with runners on base but couldn’t convert. The Braves trailed the New York Mets by 10 ½ at the beginning of June and lost four of five in the Big Apple in August to seemingly end their hopes, but they charged back and will now have the #2 seed and a bye for the opening round of the playoffs.
