Aaron Judge makes long-awaited return as Yankees clinch 34th consecutive winning season by beating Rockies

For the 34th consecutive season, the New York Yankees have a winning record. The Yankees won their 82nd game of the season Tuesday night (NYY 5, COL 3) in Aaron Judge's first game back from a fractured rib. Judge went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts in his first action since May 31. He came out of the game after six innings, as planned.

"He won't play the whole game today, even though he wants to," manager Aaron Boone said prior to Tuesday's game. "I'm going to be mindful of that, especially this first week. He'll probably have one of the days this series off. We'll adjust each night on what we see."

The Yankee Stadium crowd gave Judge a standing ovation when he took the field in the top of the first inning, and again when he stepped to the plate in the bottom half.

Despite missing more than three months, Judge returned without going on a minor-league rehab assignment. He looked rusty at the plate -- Judge fouled off two hangers in his first at-bat -- which is understandable. Judge will be built up carefully, hence the early exit. His replacement in right field, Heliot Ramos, hit a three-run homer that proved to be Tuesday's game-winner.

"I feel great. I played half a game," Judge said after Tuesday's game. "That's where my guy Ramos came in and picked me up, and hit a nice little three-run homer there to put the game out (of reach)."  

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The Yankees last had a losing season back in 1992, when they went 76-86 and wasted a Cy Young-caliber season from Melido Perez (2.87 ERA in 247 2/3 innings). Their worst record since 1992 is 82-80 in 2023. They clinched a winning record on the second-to-last day of the season that year to keep this streak alive.

Thirty-four consecutive winning seasons is not only the second-longest such streak in baseball history, it's also the second-longest streak of winning seasons in the history of the four major North American pro sports leagues. Here are the longest streaks of winning seasons:

1. 39 seasons: 1926-64 Yankees
2. 34 seasons: 1993-2025 Yankees (active)
3. 32 seasons: 1951-83 Montreal Canadiens
4. 29 seasons: 1967-96 Boston Bruins
5. 24 seasons: 1992-2016 Detroit Red Wings

The longest streak of consecutive winning seasons by an MLB team other than the Yankees is 18 by the Baltimore Orioles (1968-85). The second-longest active streak is 16 straight winning seasons by the Los Angeles Dodgers. They won their 82nd game last Sunday to extent the streak.

Of course, the Yankees are looking to clinch a lot more than a winning season these days. They are four games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East and four games up on the Boston Red Sox for the top wild card spot. New York is 11 games up on a postseason berth in general. They are 82-62 and have 18 games remaining.