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Watch: Yankees OF Aaron Judge blasts three home runs in four innings
New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a solo home run in the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Yankee Stadium. Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Watch: Yankees OF Aaron Judge blasts three home runs in four innings

New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge’s 2024 American League MVP defense is off to a strong start.

On Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers, Judge hit three home runs in his first four at-bats to help give the Yankees an eye-popping 16-4 lead through four innings.

It was Judge’s first three-home run game since Sept. 22, 2023, and just the third of his 10-year MLB career.

Judge hit his first home run as part of a historic start for New York. The Yankees took Nestor Cortes, who pitched for the organization in 2019 and from 2021-24, deep on three consecutive pitches to begin the game, with Judge blasting the final home run of the sequence.

The AL’s single-season home run record holder hit a grand slam for his second against the Brewers in the bottom of the second inning and followed it with a three-run dinger in the fourth.

Through six innings, Judge is 4-for-5 and has a career-high eight runs batted in. He drove in six runs on four separate occasions, most recently during his last three-homer game before Saturday.

The two-time MVP led the AL with 58 home runs in 2024, two years removed from setting the league record with 62 in 2022.

Last season, Judge started cold. He didn’t hit his third home run until April 14 and slashed .197/.331/.393 through May 2 (33 games).

He’s had no such shortcomings to begin 2025. Instead, he’s already in midseason form. 

Eric Smithling

Eric Smithling is a writer based in New Orleans, LA, whose byline also appears on Athlon Sports. He has been with Yardbarker since September 2022, primarily covering the NFL and college football, but also the NBA, WNBA, men’s and women’s college basketball, NHL, tennis and golf. He holds a film studies degree from the University of New Orleans

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