ATLANTA – Alex Rodriguez said goodbye on Aug. 12, 2016, playing his final game in a Yankees uniform. The next afternoon, Aaron Judge introduced himself, rattling the restaurant glass above Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park with a memorable first career home run.
Nearly a decade later, the sluggers’ careers intersected again. Judge launched his 351st career homer in the first inning on Sunday, tying A-Rod for sixth place on the club’s all-time home run list in the Yankees’ 4-2 victory over the Braves in the rubber match at Truist Park.
Judge’s blast off right-hander Grant Holmes was his 36th of the season and his first in Atlanta’s new home, the 32nd Major League park Judge has homered in.
Judge moved into a four-way tie for third place for the most venues homered in during the regular season among active players. He joined Willy Adames, Randal Grichuk and Carlos Santana at 32, with only Giancarlo Stanton (36) and Manny Machado (34) ahead of them.
Babe Ruth is the Yankees’ all-time home run leader with 659, followed by Mickey Mantle (536), Lou Gehrig (493), Joe DiMaggio (361) and Yogi Berra (358).
Backed by Judge’s homer and Paul Goldschmidt’s run-scoring single in the first, Marcus Stroman provided the Yankees with needed distance, holding Atlanta to Matt Olson’s long solo homer in the sixth over six innings.
Stroman scattered five hits with no walks and four strikeouts. He has pitched to a 3.00 ERA across four starts (21 innings) since returning from the injured list on June 29.
Jorbit Vivas was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the sixth, forcing in the Yanks’ third run off Holmes. Jazz Chisholm Jr. roped a run-scoring double off Dane Dunning in the seventh.