NEW YORK -- With the September stretch run in full force, this much has become crystal clear: The Yankees (81-54) will go as far as Aaron Judge will carry them.

The 30-year-old superstar, who entered Monday with 8.5 WAR -- the highest among all Major League players, per Fangraphs -- is doing everything in his power to ensure that this season¡¯s sky-high expectations come to fruition in the Bronx.

With ¡°M-V-P¡± chants bellowing down from the Labor Day crowd of 38,446 at Yankee Stadium, Judge homered for the third consecutive game, launching his 54th homer of the season -- a go-ahead two-run blast in the sixth inning that delivered a 5-2 series-opening victory over the Twins (68-65).

¡°Man, it just gets more and more amazing what he¡¯s doing. I mean, it really does,¡± said manager Aaron Boone. ¡°Doesn¡¯t get pitched to much and [is] just ready when it is in there. It¡¯s getting hard to put into words what he¡¯s doing. ¡­ Just a special season he¡¯s in the midst of.¡±

? Where to sit to catch a historic Judge homer

Judge¡¯s long ball traveled a Statcast-projected 404 feet at an exit velocity of 109.6 mph off Twins righty reliever Trevor Megill, and it countered former Yankee Gary S¨¢nchez¡¯s 473-foot game-tying moonshot one frame earlier. It also pushed Judge into a tie with Alex Rodriguez (circa 2007) for the most home runs in a single season by a right-handed batter in Yankees history.

Switch-hitter Mickey Mantle notched 54 homers in 1961, while lefty Babe Ruth reached that total in 1920, which he later topped with 59 in ¡¯21 and 60 in ¡¯27.

Judge, whose blistering pace has put him in position to break Roger Maris¡¯ American League record of 61, is now on track to hit 65 home runs before the season is done. The Yankees have 27 games remaining.

After not homering in a season-long nine-game stretch from Aug. 13-21, Judge has now smashed eight home runs in his last 13 games. But despite the historic tear he¡¯s on, the four-time All-Star isn¡¯t focused on the illustrious company he keeps joining.

¡°Every single day I show up to work ready to go and do whatever it takes to get our team a win,¡± Judge said. ¡°If that¡¯s me moving a guy over, driving a guy in, making a play on defense -- that¡¯s what I¡¯m focused on. All the individual awards, accolades, stats you get throughout the year, it¡¯s all based on how well you help the team out. So if I¡¯m not out there helping the team every single day, the stats and all that stuff doesn¡¯t show up.¡±

Judge is coming through in that department, too. After accounting for nearly all of the Yankees¡¯ offense in their last series against the Rays, he kept it up on Monday with a 2-for-3 showing, including a pair of extra-base hits, a walk and two runs scored.

Judge¡¯s performance supported starter Jameson Taillon, who remained on schedule after exiting his previous start due to a comebacker that caused a right forearm contusion. Taillon gave up just two runs -- the sixth straight outing in which the Yankees¡¯ rotation has allowed that many earned runs or fewer -- in five innings but took a no-decision after giving up the long ball to S¨¢nchez.

Judge made sure that momentum didn¡¯t last, taking Megill¡¯s 88 mph slider on a 3-1 count that hung right in the heart of the strike zone and depositing it in the second deck in left field.

¡°It¡¯s nice to play with him behind you,¡± Taillon said. ¡°There¡¯s maybe only a few guys throughout the league who are even close to as big of a threat as he is. One swing of the bat can change the game any time he¡¯s up there.¡±

Marwin Gonzalez and Isiah Kiner-Falefa also launched solo homers, giving the Yankees their Major League-leading 31st game with at least three home runs. Only three other teams entered the day with at least 20 such games.

Judge is similarly running away with this season¡¯s home run race. Kyle Schwarber has the next highest total with 36, but in the AL alone, Yordan Alvarez¡¯s 31 would be the runner-up.

Most HR in a season, MLB history -- with totals through 135 team games:
2001 Barry Bonds: 73 -- 57
1998 Mark McGwire: 70 -- 54
1998 Sammy Sosa: 66 -- 53
2022 Aaron Judge: 65 (current pace) -- 54
1999 Mark McGwire: 65 -- 52
2001 Sammy Sosa: 64 -- 53
1999 Sammy Sosa: 63 -- 57
1961 Roger Maris: 61 -- 53
1927 Babe Ruth: 60 -- 49

While Judge might call it ¡°offseason talk,¡± there¡¯s no question that this Yankees season will be determined not just by how many he hits, but by how many more meaningful ones he has in him.

¡°He¡¯s our leader,¡± said Kiner-Falefa. ¡°He goes about his business the right way. Everybody sees it, everybody feeds off his energy and just the way he does things. Everybody notices it.

¡°We just got to keep going, and I¡¯m excited for what¡¯s to come for him.¡±