Tyler Austin, Aaron Judge first pair to hit back-to-back HRs in first plate appearances
NEW YORK -- A new era of New York Yankees baseball began with a bang.
Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge, called up by the team for Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays, spectacularly delivered back-to-back home runs in their first major league at-bats during the second inning.
Austin and Judge are the first pair of teammates to accomplish the feat in baseball history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Austin's homer barely cleared the right-field wall, drawing a celebration from manager Joe Girardi. Judge followed with a blast to straightaway center. The homers came off Rays right-hander Matt Andriese with one out.
Austin (13) and Judge (19) had each hit their fair share of homers this season for Triple-A Scranton.
On Friday, Alex Rodriguez, who has 696 career home runs -- trailing only Babe Ruth (714), Hank Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762) in that category -- played his final game as a Yankee. Rodriguez was officially released before Saturday's game.
