MLB
Juan Soto makes history with the Yankees alongside Aaron Judge
Aaron Judge was key again, but Juan Soto hit 40 HRs this season and 200 homers in his career as the Yankees beat the Mariners.
This Tuesday, the first game of the series between the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners took place at T-Mobile Park, in a battle that ended up delivering historic moments for star players Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. ‘El Juez’ is keeping up the pace and his fantastic form while the Dominican has now hit 40 HR in the 2024 Major League Baseball campaign, as well as getting to 200 home runs in his entire career.
With Soto Pacheco’s record of home runs, he and Judge join Babe Ruth-Lou Gehrig and Roger Maris-Mickey Mantle as the only players to have topped 40 or more home runs in a single season for the Manhattan side. The former did so in 1927, 1930 and 1931, while the latter did so in 1961.
Although the spotlight is usually on the captain of the Bronx Bombers, on this occasion the man of the night was the Santo Domingo native, who now boasts the amazing record of hitting a home run in all of the 30 ballparks within the Major Leagues. The only ground that was pending on his list was T-Mobile Park, but that changed this Tuesday.
The first to start the Yankees feast against the Mariners was ‘The Judge’, as he drove in four runs in the first two innings of the game with a pair of deep hits to left field. The game was 4-0 for Aaron Boone’s team with runs by Gleyber Torres (2), Alex Verdugo and Juan Soto; in that same closing of the second inning Jorge Polanco hit a HR for Seattle to make it 4-1 on the scoreboard.
Soto’s homer came in the fourth inning and served to drive in two more runs, putting the score at 6-1. In the fifth inning came Jasson Dominguez’s solo homer and the 21-year-old Dominican took advantage of his opportunity to make it 7-1. Right after this, Austin Wells appeared, who in the sixth inning found a double to right field and drove in the runs of Verdugo, Soto and Judge (10-1).
Finally, after Luke Raley’s solo homer in the eighth inning (10-2), in the ninth came a hit by Oswaldo Cabrera to drive in the run of Jazz Chisholm Jr. (11-2). The last out of the game was Randy Arozarena, who struck out without swinging at a pitch from Marcus Stroman.