Yankee's Aaron Judge Sets Rookie Record With 50th HR; Kris Bryant Helps Cubs Crush Cards, 11-2

Players of the Day for Monday, September 25, 2017

American League

Judge sets rookie HR mark

Aaron Judge socked a pair of home runs, leading the Yankees to an 11-3 win over the visiting Kansas City Royals, a make-up game from an earlier rainout.

Judge's two homers increased his total for the season to 50, breaking Mark McGwire's 1987 record of 49. Judge pounded a two-run shot to right field in the third inning to tie the record and a solo homer to left in the seventh, setting the new mark. Judge's performance - 2-for-3, two runs, three RBI - matched that of his previous game, a 9-5 loss at Toronto.

The 6-foot-7, 25-year-old slugger is a leading candidate for rookie of the year and league MVP, a rare double award cache previously captured only by Fred Lynn (1975) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001).

Judge leads the AL in home runs and his 108 RBI are tied for second with LA's Justin Upton, trailing Seattle's Nelson Cruz, who has 115.

The Yankees, having already clinched a wild card, still have the Red Sox in their sights, but are running out of time. Though the Yanks have won 16 of their last 22 games, Boston has also been solid, maintaining a four-game lead in the division despite losing to Toronto on Monday, 6-4.

New York closes out the season at home, hosting Tampa Bay and Toronto in consecutive three-game series starting Tuesday.

National League

Bryant: 3-for-4, HR

Having taken three of four from the Brewers in Milwaukee over the weekend and whacking the Cardinals, 10-2, in the opener of another four-game road series, the Chicago Cubs can practically taste the post-season.

Chicago's win over St. Louis not only eliminated the Cardinals in the division race, it also left them six games ahead of Milwaukee, reducing their magic number for the division title to one.

Kris Bryant continued his red-hot play, socking his 29th home run of the season off Cardinal starter, Luke Weaver, who was rocked for seven hits and eight runs in three innings.

Bryant also singled twice, going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs and an RBI. The 2016 NL MVP has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, with four homers and 14 RBI over that span.

The Cardinals are seven games out in the division, but still have a chance at the wild card. They trail the Rockies by 2 1/2 games, but Milwaukee is only 1 1/2 back in the race for the second wild card. Arizona, with a six-game lead in the top spot, can clinch that with one win or a Rockies' loss.

The Cubs will be looking to clinch their second straight NL Central title when they take the field in St. Louis, Tuesday at 8:00 pm ET.