Aaron Judge became the fastest player to hit 300 home runs when he hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning of the New York Yankees’ 10-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.
“It’s a great achievement,” Aaron Judge told ESPN. “Like I mentioned a few days ago, I was hoping for a win. It resulted in a tremendous triumph for us. We were down for a little while and couldn’t get much going, so I was simply glad it was there in a huge moment.
It was a historic occasion for Judge, and he plans to add to that amount this season and throughout his career with the Yankees. With Judge at 32, he will strive to maintain his current level of play, possibly hitting 400 or 500 home runs. If he can maintain this level of performance until his mid-30s, Judge has a decent chance of making the Hall of Fame. Judge is not a lock for the Hall of Fame because he is 25 years old and is playing his first full season, but he has a good chance.
In the sixth inning of the New York Yankees’ game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, outfielder Juan Soto intentionally walked, leading to Aaron Judge’s 300th home run.
Judge homered off reliever Chad Kuhl on a 3-0 fastball after Juan Soto was intentionally walked in front of him. The theme has recently been Judge being purposely walked, but this time it was Juan Soto who was walked to allow Judge a chance to hit with runners on base. The judge sought to make the White Sox pay for their decision.
“I was mad about the intentional walk, so that kind of fueled it,” Judge told ESPN. “Usually 3-0, I’ll take a pitch, see it, and then pass it around to the next man. But in that case, if they don’t want to pitch you, you have to follow through.”
Soto had a tremendous series, hitting three home runs in the second game and another in the first inning on Wednesday, prompting interim White Sox manager Grady Sizemore to call for a walk. In the end, it didn’t work since Judge homered first, followed by Austin Wells’ home run to make it 10-2 Yankees.
With the victory, the Yankees maintained their half-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. They have the day off before a weekend series against the Detroit Tigers, which includes the “MLB Little League Classic” on Sunday at Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
