The Rangers ended a seven-game losing skid in a 3-2 win over the Yankees in Arlington on Tuesday night, but that is not what this game will likely be remembered for.
Bronx Bomber Aaron Judge was in town for the second straight night. After going 1-for-5 in Game One of the day’s twin bill – a Yankee 5-4 victory – with no home runs, he remained tied at 61 with Roger Maris, who set the American League single-season record for home runs in the summer of 1961.
Although sluggers such as Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire all broke that threshold during their careers, those records were voided after evidence showed they had used performance-enhancing drugs.
On the third pitch of the second game between Texas and New York, Judge cemented himself in the record book when he launched Jesus Tinoco’s 88 MPH slider deep into left field and into the stands at Globe Life Field, beating the official single-season record.
“I had a good feeling off the bat,” Judge told MLB.com of the historic homer. “I just didn’t know where it was going to land or what it was going to hit. There was a good sense of relief once I saw it in that fan’s glove.”
Total attendance at the game was nearly 39,000 – 4,000 more than the night before, The Dallas Express reports. While Judge found relief when it hit the “fan’s glove,” that fan is likely having a Wednesday morning like no other.
Cory Youmans, a Dallas resident, was sitting in section 31 in the left field bleachers at Globe Life Field on Tuesday night, sporting his blue Rangers hat and a gloved right hand. When the missile Judge hit to break the home run record got to Youmans, Youmans snared the ball in the web of his glove, catching the souvenir of a lifetime.
Youmans, who works in finance, told the AP he has no idea what the ball would be worth. MLB officials and security personnel escorted Youmans from his front-row bleacher seat to have the ball authenticated. He told the AP he was unsure what he would do with the ball.
“I haven’t thought about it,” he said.
Judge said he would love to have the ball back but understands why someone would want to keep it.
“I don’t know where it’s at,” he told MLB.com. “We’ll see what happens with that. It would be great to get it back, but that’s a souvenir for a fan. He made a great catch out there, and they’ve got every right to it.”
The Yankees clinched their postseason spot weeks ago, and Judge struck out swinging in his second at-bat in the contest. It is unclear if he will play in the season’s final game today, Thursday, October 5, starting at 6:05 p.m. CDT.
Lost in the homer-shuffle was the Rangers’ 67th win of the year (against 94 losses), six games better than last year’s 102-loss season, with one game to go.
Leody Taveras belted his fifth homer of the year in the bottom of the fifth with Sam Huff onboard for the two-run round-tripper and a 3-2 lead.
Kolby Allard won his first game of the year after pitching four innings of one-run ball for Texas, and Ranger Matt Moore notched his fourth save of the year after tossing a scoreless ninth in which he fanned two.
The probable starting pitchers for the last game of the season for Texas, and the last of the regular season for New York, will be Glenn Otto (6-10, 4.72) for the Rangers and Domingo German (2-4, 3.31) for the Yanks.
