Blue Jays’ Tim Mayza on other side of history after giving up Aaron Judge homer

TORONTO — Tim Mayza is the answer to the newest baseball trivia question: Who gave up Aaron Judge’s record-tying 61st home run?

The Blue Jays left-handed reliever served up the historic pitch in the seventh inning Wednesday night at Rogers Centre, loading the count before throwing a 94.5 mph sinker down the middle that Judge crushed into the Toronto bullpen.

Blue Jays pitcher Tim Mayza gave up Aaron Judge’s 61st home run. YES

The two-run shot, which tied Roger Maris’ American League and franchise single-season record, broke a tie score and the Yankees went on to beat the Blue Jays 8-3.

“I wanted to attack him with sinkers, challenge him, try to get the ball on the ground, especially with a runner on first,” Mayza said. “He put together a pretty good at-bat. I made the one mistake and he took advantage, so kudos to him. Congratulations to him. Just left one too many pitches over the plate to a really good hitter.”

Everything to know about Aaron Judge and his chase for the home run record:

Mayza, a 30-year-old reliever, is in his fifth season in the big leagues. He had given up six home runs in 46 ¹/₃ innings this year coming into Wednesday, to go with a 2.91 ERA.

The Blue Jays had done well to keep Judge in the park through the first two-plus games of the series. He entered the at-bat against Mayza without a homer in 34 straight plate appearances — the final 13 of them coming in this series. But Mayza said he wasn’t thinking about the potential of giving up No. 61 in that spot.

Aaron Judge hits home run No. 61. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

“That’s not on my mind at all,” he said. “The only thing I thought of there was to attack him and get him on the ground.”

It was the fifth time that Mayza had faced Judge in his career and the first time that the Yankees slugger had taken him deep. Judge, who was previously 1-for-3 off Mayza, was intentionally walked by him in the 10th inning of the game Monday, which the Blue Jays went on to win.

“You have to give credit to a good hitter,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters. “I didn’t say anything to Timmy. It’s a tied record. It’s not a broken record or anything like that. He’s been one of the best relievers in the league.”