62 and 257 -- That's Not the Yankees' Record When They Score 2 Or Fewer Runs

First batter of last night's game between the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers: Aaron Judge. Pitcher: Jesus Tinoco. On a 1-1 count, Judge drilled a ball deep into the left-field stands at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, 391 feet. It was his 62nd home run of the season, surpassing Roger Maris, the most that any American League player -- the most that any player has ever hit without evidence of cheating -- in a single season in the 152-season history of Major League Baseball.

How the tabloids told it

Unfortunately, as the great WCBS-Channel 2 sportscaster Warner Wolf would say, "Turn your sets off right there!" The Yankees loaded the bases in the top of the 1st inning after the Judge milestone, but couldn't get any of those runs home. Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run in the 5th, but that was all that the Yankees were going to get.

Gerrit Cole started, and pitched 6 innings, striking out 9, setting a new Yankee single-season record of 257 strikeouts, breaking the 1978 record of 248 set by Ron Guidry. But he didn't get the run support he needed. After the Stanton homer, the Yankees got only 2 baserunners, both walks.

Rangers 3, Yankees 2. WP: Kolby Allard (1-2). SV: Matt Moore (4). LP: Cole (13-8). The Yankees' record dropped to 99-62 -- the number of wins matching Judge's uniform number, and the number of losses matching his home run total. Of course, the 2 milestone numbers, 62 and 257, suggest what the Yankees' record might be in games in which they score 2 runs or less. (In fact, it's 12-39. It's when 20-48 when they score at least 3, 30-52 when they score at least 4, 47-47 when they score at least 5, 64-49 when they score at least 6.)

The series, and the regular season, conclude this afternoon. Domingo Germán pitches for the Yankees, Glenn Otto for the Rangers. Judge is being rested, so he finishes the season with 62 homers. He also led the AL with 131, and batted .311, which was nearly enough to win the AL batting title and thus the Triple Crown.