NEW YORK – Aaron Judge is fanatical about a routine that helps him lock in early at the plate. Give him extra time to work, and the Yankees’ captain becomes even more dangerous.
Judge used a 2-hour, 45-minute rain delay to his advantage, coming in ready to go against the Royals on Sunday at Yankee Stadium. Jumping on the first pitch he saw, Judge blasted his ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot off Cole Ragans that landed in Monument Park in center field.
Then Ben Rice continued to impact the baseball like few others can, reaching the right-field seats in the second inning for his eighth home run. Rice has homered in four straight games.
With 17 combined homers, Judge and Rice have belted the most of any teammate duo this year.
It’s also a historic figure. They’re just the third Yankees tandem to belt eight or more homers each through the team’s first 22 games, joining Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle (1956) and Judge and Anthony Rizzo (2022).
Judge’s nine homers are second in the Majors, behind Yordan Alvarez (10) of the Astros.
It was the fifth first-inning homer of the season for Judge, whose 90 first-inning homers are third in franchise history behind Babe Ruth (126) and Mantle (103).
Since 2024, 45 of Judge’s 120 home runs have come in the first inning.