Yankees’ Aaron Judge hits 56th and 57th home runs, now four away from tying AL’s single-season record

New York Yankees slugger and AL MVP frontrunner Aaron Judge took two steps closer to home run history Tuesday night. Judge swatted his MLB-leading 56th and 57th home runs of the year against the Red Sox, and is now four behind Roger Maris’ American League single-season record of 61 homers set in 1961.

Judge had gone five games without a homer prior to Tuesday. As has been the case since he hit No. 53 earlier this month, every home run from here on out is a new career high for Judge.

Judge is looking to become the sixth player in history to hit 60 home runs in a season, joining Barry Bonds (73 in 2001), Mark McGwire (70 in 1998 and 65 in 1999), Sammy Sosa (66 in 1998, 64 in 2001, and 63 in 1999), Maris (61 in 1961), and Babe Ruth (60 in 1927).

Maris’ 61 homers in 1961 is also the Yankees’ franchise record, though Judge owns the franchise’s single-season record for right-handed batters. The previous record was 54 by Alex Rodriguez in 2007.

Judge entered Tuesday with a .307/.410/.679 batting line to go along with his 55 homers and MLB-leading 121 RBI. He has climbed into fifth place in the batting race and is challenging for the Triple Crown in addition to the AL’s single-season home run record.

The Yankees are playing their 142nd game of the season Tuesday, giving Judge another 20 games to chase Maris’ record.