New York slugger Aaron Judge may hit his record-tying 61st home run in Toronto after all.
The Yankees confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that Judge would indeed be in the lineup when his team plays the Jays at Rogers Centre (7:07 p.m. ET on Sportsnet).
There was some speculation that Judge would not play in the final contest of the three-game series, after the Yankees clinched the American League East title with a win on Tuesday over the Jays. That would have allowed Judge to potentially hit his next homer — which would tie Roger Maris’ AL record from 1961 — at home in New York in front of the Yankee faithful.
Instead, some Rogers Centre fan could potentially snag Judge’s next dinger.
Judge is currently tied at 60 with another Yankee great, Babe Ruth, for the second-most home runs in AL history. The record for most home runs in an MLB season is 73, held by Barry Bonds, though it occurred during baseball’s steroid era and has come under scrutiny, along with the second- through sixth-most totals, which are held by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.
The six records set by those three players were all achieved between 1998 and 2001.
