Aaron Judge hit his 58th and 59th homers of the season to move within two of Roger Maris’ American League record with 16 games remaining and lead the New York Yankees to a 12-8 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.
Judge added a two-run double in the ninth as part of a four-hit day for New York (88-58), which hit five homers and avoided a sweep in three games. The Yankees opened up a 5 1/2-game lead over Toronto, which ranks second in the American League East.
Judge’s 11th multi-home run game tied the season record set by Detroit’s Hank Greenberg in 1938 and equaled by Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs in 1998.
Seeking a Triple Crown, Judge leads the major leagues in home runs and with 127 RBIs. His .3162 batting average is just behind AL leader Luis Arraez of Minnesota at .317 and Xander Bogaerts of Boston at .3164.
Milwaukee (78-68) fell two games behind San Diego, which played later Sunday, for the third and final NL wild card.
Judge’s home runs totaled 857 feet. The first came on a sinker by Jason Alexander on a 2-0 count in the third inning. The 414-foot drive across the opposite field to the second deck in right field left the bat at 112 mph.
Then, in the seventh against Luis Perdomo, Judge hit a 1-2 slider for a 443-foot drive to left.