NEW YORK -- The Yankees play all but three of their remaining regular-season games at Yankee Stadium, and that is a welcome fact for Aaron Judge.
Judge blasted his American League-leading 44th home run off Twins right-hander Ervin Santana in the first inning of the Yankees' 2-1 victory on Monday evening, marking the 28th homer that Judge has hit in the Bronx this year. That is tied with the Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton, who has hit 28 of his Major League-leading 55 homers at Marlins Park, the latest also coming Monday night.
Statcast™ calculated Judge's homer as having an exit velocity of 108.9 mph, traveling 395 feet to right-center field with a launch angle of 38 degrees.
The 28 homers mark the most single-season homers ever hit at the current Yankee Stadium, having surpassed Curtis Granderson's 26 home blasts in 2012. They are the most home runs hit in the Bronx by a Yankee since Roger Maris hit 30 of his 61 blasts at the original Yankee Stadium in 1961.
With the Yankees fighting for postseason position, Judge has reached base safely in 14 straight games, collecting seven homers and 14 RBIs over that span. Only one rookie has hit more homers in big league history -- Mark McGwire, who hit 49 for the Athletics in 1987.