New York Yankees' Aaron Judge hits 50th home run of season before month of September

ANAHEIM — A 434-foot blast off Angels reliever Ryan Tepera etched Aaron Judge's name in the major league history books on Monday night, as he became only the 10th player in MLB history — and third member of the storied Yankees franchise — to record multiple 50-home run seasons.

A crowd of 44,537 at sold-out Angel Stadium, a great majority of them Yankees fans, cheered Judge on with an «M-V-P! M-V-P!» refrain that has accompanied most of his at bats during this record-setting season.

Judge is now on pace to hit 63 home runs this season, assuming he plays in every remaining Yankees game.

In 2017, during his Rookie of the Year campaign, Judge hit a career-high 52 home runs. He now joins Babe Ruth (4) and Mickey Mantle (2) as the third Yankee to hit 50 or more home runs more than once.

There have been 10 50-HR seasons by Yankees players, the most of any franchise in MLB history, with the next closest team being the Chicago Cubs (5). No other franchise has more that two.

Judge becomes only the seventh player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs before the start of September; the last player to do so was current teammate Giancarlo Stanton, who had recorded 51 home runs by Aug. 29 during his 59-HR 2017 National League MVP season with the Miami Marlins.

Judge is batting .293/.393/.665 for the season with 50 home runs and 110 RBIs.