The New York Yankees offense, led by Aaron Judge, helped the team avoid a sweep at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday. The Yankees ended their two-game losing streak with a 9-7 win over Arizona in the series finale.
Yankees captain Aaron Judge led from the front, smashing Diamondbacks ace Merrill Kelly for a three-run home run in the first inning. It was the reigning American League MVP's MLB-leading fifth home run of the campaign.
It also marked Judge's 500th extra-base hit for the Yankees in his 999th game. He became the third fastest Yankee to the feat, behind Joe DiMaggio (853 games) and Lou Gehrig (874 games).

His Yankees teammate Jazz Chisholm Jr., who also homered on the night, dropped a one-word reaction to acknowledge his captain's first-inning blast.
"Regular," Jazz captioned his Instagram story with Judge's home run clip.

With his milestone home run on Thursday, Aaron Judge became the first player to have five home runs and 15+ RBIs in the first six games of an MLB season.
Following the win, Jazz Chisholm Jr. praised Aaron Judge and shared how the Yankees captain inspires his teammates.
“He just keeps on performing, man, showing us why he’s the MVP of this league and one of the best players to ever play this game,” said Jazz Chisholm Jr. “We all just try to be like him. We all tell him every day, ‘Hey, we want to be you when we grow up.’”
Aaron Judge not focusing on records after home run surge to start the season
Although the reigning AL MVP joined elite Yankees company on Thursday, Aaron Judge isn't too bothered about the record right now.
“You’ve got to keep moving forward,” Judge said. “I’ll look at it when I’m an old man coming to Old-Timers’ Day. I can look back and we can joke about it and laugh about it, but there’s a lot of work to be done.”
Judge went 3-for-4 on Thursday against the Diamondbacks, driving in four runs with a home run and a double. The Yankees captain also stole a base, something that caught Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s attention.
"He’s amazing, man, just trying to follow him, pick his brain and watch him and learn from him every day. See him go in there every day even with the poise. Even if doesn't homer, he went 3-for-4. He’s starting to steal bags now, it’s starting to get ridiculous out of him, man What can you do with someone who is doing it like that?"
Chisholm Jr. is joint second on the home run list with four dingers this season, joined by his teammate Anthony Volpe, who also has four homers. They have contributed to the Yankees' 22 homers this season, the most by any team after six games into the season.