BOSTON — Aaron Judge continued his ascent in the Yankees’ record books on Friday, as he crushed the 362nd home run of his career in the first inning of the team’s series-opener at Fenway Park.

The solo shot off Red Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito gave Judge sole ownership of fourth place on the Bombers’ all-time home run list, as he had tied Joe DiMaggio with a two-homer game in Thursday’s win over the Tigers. Friday’s contest also resulted in a win, as the early lead Judge provided preempted a 4-1 victory that also featured six scoreless and erratic-but-hitless innings from Luis Gil.

“It’s special, but just like all those guys in front of me on those lists, they weren’t playing for records,” Judge, never eager to discuss personal achievements, said of passing Joltin’ Joe. “They were playing to win, so I’m just trying to follow in their footsteps. I’m here to win, and I’m trying to help put this team in the best position every single night.

“If that comes with homers and big moments like that, it’s pretty cool, but I think all those guys in front of me, and especially DiMaggio, they played to win in New York and win for this team. So I’m gonna keep trying to do that, and we can talk about the milestones at the end.”

Judge’s 468-foot, 112.6-mph home run, which sailed over The Green Monster and out of Fenway Park, helped him achieve his team goals on Friday, as the Yankees now have a 1.5-game lead over the Red Sox with both teams chasing the Blue Jays in the American League East.

The Bombers trail Toronto by three games.

And while Judge didn’t want to make much of a fuss over his landmark longball, his 47th of the season, his teammates had no problem speaking up on his behalf.

“That electrified us,” Ben Rice said.

“At this point it’s getting normal with him,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. added. “But at the same time, I feel like it gets us super hyped up. He brings the energy. Everybody thinks he’s really calm, but he’s really crazy, in my eyes at least.”

A Monster Mash for Cap’s 362nd Career Homer 🫡#AllRise pic.twitter.com/BdPIrwI2lk

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 12, 2025

Chisholm went on to note that in addition to being one of the greatest home run hitters in Yankees history, Judge is hitting well over .300 as he pursues another MVP trophy.

“He’s still hitting .323 right now and has almost 50 homers. That’s just ridiculous,” Chisholm said. “It’s not a soft .300 either. We always say guys hit soft .300s, but he’s hitting an immaculate .300.”

With Yogi Berra also recently toppled on the Yankees’ all-time home run list — the top-five had gone unchanged since 1957 — Judge, now in his 10th season, will have to wait a bit before moving up another spot.

Third place belongs to Lou Gehrig, who hit 493 home runs over his 17-year career with the Yankees. Mickey Mantle, who clubbed 536 jacks over his 18-year career in pinstripes, holds second place.

Babe Ruth is first on the list. The Sultan of Swat launched 659 of his 714 homers while starring for the Yankees.

With Gehrig and Ruth hitting from the left side and Mantle using both, Judge’s 362 home runs are the most by a right-handed hitter in Yankees history.

“It’s amazing,” Rice said. “You kind of catch yourself taking it for granted every now and then, what he’s doing. But then those milestones come along and you’re able to really appreciate it.”

Following Judge’s latest homer, the Yankees added another run in the third inning when Rice hit what appeared to be an inning-ending flyout to left. However, Carlos Narváez was called for catcher interference after the Yankees failed to challenge a similar call in a timely manner in the first inning. Cody Bellinger went on to hit a two-out single that brought Judge home.

The Bombers scored again in the seventh inning when José Caballero, starting in place of the aching and scuffling Anthony Volpe, hit a ground-rule double, stole third and raced home on a fielder’s choice, which led to a throwing error and was followed by an intentional walk to Judge and an RBI single from Rice.

“He wreaks havoc on the bases,” Aaron Boone said of Caballero. “He’s a little daring and makes you hold your breath sometimes, but he’s got a real good feel. He’s a really confident player.”

Gil, meanwhile, continued to struggle with his command, but that didn’t hurt the Yankees with Boston unable to hit the hard-throwing righty. It wasn’t until the seventh that the Red Sox finally picked up a hit, as Nate Eaton cleared The Monster with a solo home run off Fernando Cruz.

Gil, making his eighth start of the year after a spring training lat injury delayed his season debut, totaled four walks, four strikeouts and 93 pitches, two of which were wild.

Afterward, he mentioned that he has a “shot to do something like [throw a no-hitter] in the future” if he can “find a way to be more economical.”

Boone, meanwhile, described the pitcher as “effectively wild” and came away pleased with the 27-year-old’s outing.

“He’s a little unpredictable, even for us sometimes,” Boone said. “He’s feeling it out there. He’s feeling his way through it a lot, and tonight was the best he’s looked. A little late, he started to lose the strike zone a little bit, but his stuff was good, and he was able to get big outs.

“Hopefully this is another springboard for him where he can kind of get it rolling and get in rhythm. But from a delivery standpoint, I thought it was his best one where he got into an early rhythm.”

The fifth inning presented Gil’s biggest jam, as it began with him issuing a leadoff walk, a wild pitch and another walk before balking. However, he worked in and out of one-out trouble and through problems with his PitchCom by recording a strikeout and a lineout.

Devin Williams, meanwhile, stranded a runner on second in the eighth when Ryan McMahon made a backhanded stab at a soft grounder down the third base line and fired to a scooping Paul Goldschmidt, who had entered the game as a defensive sub for Rice in the seventh.

David Bednar recorded the final three outs in succession, securing a key divisional win for the Yankees with 15 games left in the regular season.

“We want to set a statement for the rest of the season,” Chisholm said. “We’re out there trying to win the division right now, and I feel like this one is going to really help us.”

Originally Published: September 12, 2025 at 7:51 PM EDT