NEW YORK -- Yankees manager Joe Girardi was asked how closely he'd monitor feared slugger Aaron Judge's pursuit of a 50-home-run season in the last week of the season Monday morning.
By that afternoon, Girardi could rest.
Judge's second home run against the Royals at Yankee Stadium gave him No. 50. The blast broke the single-season rookie record Mark McGwire set with the A's in 1987.
The home run came off righty reliever Trevor Cahill's 84-mph changeup that floated right into the zone in the seventh inning. It was a no-doubter, zooming way past the wall in left-center field to put the Yankees ahead, 7-3.