Aaron Judge hits 54th home run of season, tying Yankees record, then heads to watch US Open

By Ben Morse, CNN

Updated 0952 GMT (1752 HKT) September 6, 2022

Aaron Judge gestures towards his dugout after his sixth inning two-run home run against the Minnesota Twins.

(CNN)As Mondays go,Aaron Judge had a pretty special one.

First, the 30-year-old superstar hit his 54th home run on the season during the New York Yankees' 5-2 win over the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium. His 404-foot, two-run shot flew to the second deck of left field off Twins reliever Trevor Megill, breaking a 2-2 tie in the sixth inning.In doing so, Judge continued his Most Valuable Player trajectory — vying with the Los Angeles Angels' Shohei Ohtani — as well as equaling a team record. He tied Alex Rodriguez's record for the most home runs in a single season by a right-handed batter in Yankees history, which Rodriguez set in 2007. Read MoreRodriguez congratulated Judge on social media, <a href=«https://twitter.com/AROD/status/1566881723970834433?ref_src=» https: target="_blank">saying: «Keep going my man!»Judge's 54th home run is his eighth in his last 13 games and continues his potentially historic season. With 27 games remaining, Judge is on pace to hit 65 home runs which would be the most in a season in Yankees history. The 61 hit by Roger Maris in 1961 is also the American League record. If Judge is able to finish the season with 65 homers — which would require one every 2.5 games — it would be the fifth 65-plus home run season in MLB history. The most ever in a single season was by Barry Bonds in 2001 when he finished with 73. «Every single day, I show up to work ready to go and do whatever it takes to get our team a win,» Judge said after hitting his 54th home run. «If that's me moving a guy over, driving a guy in, making a play on defense