NEW YORK -- In that long-gone era of sports history, when Aaron Judge had hit one fewer homer than his current Major League-leading total of 49, Giancarlo Stanton observed that his teammate was ¡°playing a video game.¡± The stats are very much real life, but each night, the Yankees¡¯ captain sure looks like he¡¯s playing with the Konami code.

Judge homered for a fourth consecutive game on Friday night, partnering with a Stanton blast to power the Yankees past the Rockies, 3-0, at Yankee Stadium. Judge sits percentage points away from a pace that would match his own single-season American League home run record of 62, but his teammates believe that could just be an opening bid.

¡°He¡¯s done it before. We can¡¯t be surprised,¡± Stanton said. ¡°And we¡¯ve got plenty of time for him to do even more impressive things, to stay the course. We have time.¡±

Judge¡¯s latest blast came in the sixth inning off right-hander Kyle Freeland, when he pummeled an inside fastball over the left-center-field wall for a drive that traveled a Statcast-calculated 388 feet. Judge has hit at least 49 homers through the Yanks¡¯ first 129 games for the second time in his career; he had 50 after the club¡¯s 129th game in his record-setting 2022.

Judge has homered in four straight games for the fourth time in his career and second this season. He has tallied seven homers in his past eight games (since Aug. 14), eight in his past 11 (since Aug. 11), 14 in his past 25 (since July 26) and 17 in his past 34 (since July 12).

¡°I¡¯m trying to get locked in. Once we get locked in, I¡¯ll let you guys know,¡± Judge said. ¡°I try to keep it simple. The best thing I can say is, I try not to do too much every single day. We¡¯ve got a great lineup, we¡¯ve got a great team. If we just go out there and do our jobs, good things are going to happen.¡±

What¡¯s especially remarkable about Judge¡¯s performance, said manager Aaron Boone, is that the Yanks¡¯ best player might not be ¡°on fire right now or anything.¡± As Boone suggested, it is possible that Judge is just ¡°this good.¡±

How good? Arguably better than in 2022, when he spent the season¡¯s final weeks chasing Roger Maris¡¯ storied record en route to his first selection as the AL¡¯s Most Valuable Player.

Through 127 games in 2022, Judge was slashing .296/.399/.664 with 104 runs, 51 homers, 113 RBIs and 78 walks. Other than the homers, many numbers are higher this year: .333/.464/.728 with 102 runs, 49 homers, 119 RBIs and 104 walks.

¡°I wasn¡¯t here in ¡¯22, but I feel like he¡¯s more of a complete hitter this year,¡± said left-hander Carlos Rod¨®n, who tossed six scoreless innings for his team-leading 14th win. ¡°He¡¯s hitting [.333], he¡¯s working counts, he gets walked at an outrageous clip.¡±

Put another way: Judge is carrying a 1.192 OPS in an era of depressed offense across the Majors, where the league-average OPS was .713 going into Friday.

¡°It¡¯s hard to wrap your head around it,¡± Boone said. ¡°We talk about it a lot. I get asked about it all the time. I¡¯m kind of running out of words to say. You¡¯re witnessing greatness. I mean, you really are. He¡¯s just kind of better than everyone.¡±

Riding a surge unlike any seen in the game¡¯s history, Judge has been compared to Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds in recent weeks, yet neither did what he has. Judge is the first player in Major League history to bat at least .375 with at least 45 homers over a 100-game span in a single season (.378 with 45 homers since April 27).

¡°It¡¯s not real. I try not to think about it,¡± Judge said. ¡°Even when they would say a lot of the Yankee greats here like [Mickey] Mantle, [Joe] DiMaggio, Maris, Babe Ruth. It¡¯s tough to comprehend or even think about, so you just don¡¯t think about it and just keep going.¡±

It is worth mentioning, once again, that Judge¡¯s numbers would be even more remarkable if not for a slow start. He had been batting just .178 with four homers on the 101st day of that span, April 26 at Milwaukee, yet Judge did not appear concerned. He carried much the same demeanor that he does now, expecting that hard work behind the scenes would translate into results.

Around that time, Boone defended his slumping superstar, remarking that Judge was ¡°grinding right now to get there,¡± and that once he did, ¡°somebody¡¯s going to pay, big time.¡± Boone nailed that call, rewarded with an opportunity to watch Judge punish the world¡¯s best pitchers for months.

¡°The most important thing at that time was, we were winning a lot of games. So who am I to sit here and pout about what¡¯s going on with me,¡± Judge said. ¡°If you¡¯re not hitting well, get in the cage, figure some things out and talk with people. You try to be a good teammate. I wasn¡¯t too worried, because we were winning. And I think it kind of evened itself out.¡±