Aaron Judge leads Yankees’ home run parade in 10-3 rout of Rockies

The Rockies bombed in the Bronx. Wait, check that. They got bombed in the Bronx.

Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton — the Yankees’ 2024 version of Murderers’ Row — hit back-to-back-to-back solo home runs off rookie reliever Jeff Criswell in the seventh inning. All told, New York launched five home runs to humble the Rockies, 10-3.

Judge, who’s hit 51 homers, also launched a two-run homer in the first off of lefty Austin Gomber. Gomber opened his start by walking Gleyber Torres, and yes, the walk came back to haunt him.

Judge’s two homers put him on pace to hit 63, which would break his American League record of 62 set in 2022. Judge first reached the 50-homer milestone in his rookie year in 2017, when hit 52.

Judge also became just the fifth player to hit 50 home runs in three different seasons, joining Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth.

Rockies manager Bud Black said that the Yankees’ three straight homers were the product not just of their sluggers’ talents but also of Criswell’s poor pitch location.

“The first pitch to Soto was a high slider, right in the middle of the plate. Soto’s got power, he doesn’t miss that pitch,” Black told reporters in New York. “The ball was up to Judge, as well, and the slider to Stanton was up.

“I talked to Jeff and told him that the ball up in the big leagues is going to come back to haunt you, especially the high breaking ball. Jeff’s got good stuff, but it’s the school of hard knocks in the big leagues, especially against those three guys.”

Until New York’s pyrotechnics in the seventh, the Rockies had a chance to win the game and capture just their third road series of the season.

In the fifth, Ryan McMahon broke out of his funk, driving a two-out double to right field to score Brenton Doyle from first base. That cut the Yankees’ lead to 4-3. McMahon entered the game slashing .138/.274/.234 in 28 games since the All-Star Break with three doubles, two home runs and only 11 RBIs.

McMahon’s slump-buster put the Rockies back in the game. But then came New York’s trio of homers in the seventh, followed by a three-run homer by Torres in the eighth off of lefty Lucas Gilbreath.

On pace to lose 103 games, the Rockies finished their six-game road trip 2-4. Their run differential is minus-208, by far the worst in the National League.