It wasn’t the longest home run of Aaron Judge’s career, but it sure looked like it.
The New York Yankees’ star obliterated a ball that nearly made it out of Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday in Kansas City. Judge, in the first inning of the Yankees’ matchup with the Royals, smashed a home run that traveled 469 feet and almost cleared the Hall of Fame wall out in left field.
Judge, with his team suddenly up 2-0, trotted around the bases like it was nothing.
While he has hit plenty like it in his career, Tuesday’s shot was a rare one for the stadium. It was the sixth-farthest homer hit at the stadium since tracking began nearly a decade ago, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The home run was the seventh-longest of Judge’s career and his 12th that has traveled at least 465 feet, the league announced. The longest home run of Judge’s career came back in 2017, when he hit a ball that went 496 feet against the Toronto Blue Jays. That’s tied for the fifth-longest in the Statcast Era, which dates to 2015.
Judge’s home run on Tuesday was also the third-longest hit across Major League Baseball this season. Only Mike Trout, at 484 feet, and Logan O’Hoppe, at 470 feet, have beaten him.
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Judge entered the game with a .396 batting average and a 1.264 OPS, both of which lead the league. The home run was his 24th of the season, which trails only Seattle Mariners star Cal Raleigh. Judge also has a league-high 97 hits, two of which came on Tuesday.
After the Yankees jumped out to a nine-run lead, third baseman Jazz Chisholm left the game following a strikeout in the seventh inning. He got into it briefly with Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia in the inning right before that after he successfully stole third.
Officially, the Yankees called it “neck tightness.” Further specifics are not yet known.
Judge’s home run kicked off what ended up being a blowout win for the Yankees. They cruised to the 10-2 win over the Royals to kick off the three-game series. Judge also had an RBI single in the sixth, which was part of a five-run inning for the Yankees, and Austin Wells hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning.
The win pushed the Yankees to 40-25 on the season. The Royals, on the other hand, have now lost four of their past six games and sit at 34-33 — which has them in third in the AL Central standings.