CHICAGO (AP) — Aaron Judge made history by hitting his 300th home run faster than any player ever, achieving the milestone during the New York Yankees’ 10-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night.
Judge reached this milestone in his 955th game and 3,431st at-bat, launching a three-run homer in the eighth inning. The six-time All-Star and 2022 American League MVP crushed a 3-0 sinker from Chad Kuhl into the White Sox bullpen in left field, marking his league-leading 43rd home run of the season.
Ralph Kiner hit his 300th home run in 1,087 games, while Babe Ruth did so in 3,831 at-bats.
Chicago intentionally walked Juan Soto to face Judge, who hadn’t hit a home run on a 3-0 count since 2021. Soto had already homered in the first inning off Davis Martin, marking his fourth home run in two games and 34th of the season.
Following Judge’s homer, Austin Wells also hit a home run, marking the eighth time this season that the Yankees have gone back-to-back. Wells also played a key role in a three-run seventh inning, driving in two runs with a single that put the Yankees ahead 4-2.
Gavin Sheets started the second inning with a home run off rookie Will Warren and later contributed a single that gave the White Sox a 2-1 lead in the fourth. However, in their bid to win two of three games against the AL East leaders, the White Sox suffered their 26th loss in 28 games.
Chicago suffered its 12th consecutive series loss, falling to a record of 29-93. The White Sox are on track to finish the season at 39-123, which would be their most losses since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who went 20-134.
Oswaldo Cabrera sparked the Yankees in the seventh inning with a single off Justin Anderson, becoming the first Yankee to score from second base on a sacrifice fly since Jorge Posada did it against the Los Angeles Angels on August 19, 2000. Cabrera scored when right fielder Dominic Fletcher caught Alex Verdugo’s drive near the warning track, avoiding a sliding attempt by Luis Robert Jr.
Soto walked, and Judge doubled, placing runners on second and third before Wells added a single that pushed the Yankees ahead 4-2.
Warren pitched five innings, giving up two runs on seven hits after being recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The right-hander recorded five strikeouts and issued no walks in his third career start.
Tim Hill (4-0) earned the win, while Michael Tonkin threw three innings to secure his second save.
Martin allowed one run and four hits over 5 2/3 innings, striking out five and walking three.
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