With 34 games left, talk of another 60-home run season by Aaron Judge is starting for the New York Yankees.
After homering in a third straight game, Judge is on pace for 61 as the Yankees host the Colorado Rockies on Friday in the opener of a three-game series.
Judge is at 48 homers after going deep in each of a three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians. He homered in the fourth inning of Thursday’s 6-0 win before Giancarlo Stanton added a three-run homer in the fifth.
Judge had 49 longballs through New York’s first 128 games two years ago when he hit 62 to break Roger Maris’ American League single-season record.
Eyeing his second four-game homer streak this season, Judge has six homers in his past seven games and is hitting .459 (17-for-37) with seven homers and 13 RBIs during his season-high 10-game hitting streak.
“It seems like another level,” Stanton said. “This last bit here has been unreal, and so will these next five weeks.”
Judge’s latest homer also gave him a major-league-leading 118 RBIs and 1.191 OPS along with a .334 average, second in the majors.
“That’s what the best in the world does, make it look easy,” Stanton said. “We’re all feeding off that and he amazes us every night. I’m glad he’s on our side.”
Besides seeing if Judge can continue his homer binge the Yankees are hoping to see more production from Jazz Chisholm Jr. Chisholm, who went on the injured list Aug. 14, is expected to return from a sprained left elbow.
The Rockies took two of three last season at home from the Yankees and are visiting the Bronx for the first time since 2019. Colorado is on the verge of clinching its sixth straight losing season after an 8-3 loss at Washington on Thursday afternoon.
Brenton Doyle and Jacob Stallings homered for the Rockies, but Colorado mustered just six hits, struck out 13 times and dropped to 18-48 away from Coors Field. In their road games, the Rockies are hitting .220 and have struck out 690 times after struggling against Nationals starter Patrick Corbin.
Doyle is among the Rockies’ more productive hitters of late as he hit his team-leading 21st homer and is batting .364 during an 11-game hitting streak.
“He’s been a consistent performer all year,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “It’s good to see. He seized the opportunity last year and hasn’t stopped.”
Carlos Rodon (13-8, 4.34 ERA) can match a career high for wins, which he achieved in 2022 when he was 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA for the San Francisco Giants. He is 4-1 with a 3.25 ERA in his past five outings since going 0-5 with a 9.67 ERA in six starts from June 15-July 14.
Rodon is coming off his shortest outing of the season. He did not complete five innings for the seventh time Saturday, allowing four runs on seven hits in 3
1/3 innings during a 4-0 loss at Detroit.
The left-hander is 2-2 with a 4.78 ERA in five career starts against the Rockies.
Kyle Freeland (3-5, 5.97), who is 0-1 with a 7.43 ERA in his past three outings, goes for the Rockies. The lefty followed up no-decisions against the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves by allowing eight runs and five hits in an 8-3 loss to the San Diego Padres last Friday.
Freeland’s lone career start against the Yankees occurred July 19, 2019 in New York, when he was tagged for five runs — including an Edwin Encarnacion grand slam — and six hits in four innings of an 8-2 loss.
–Field Level Media
