No. 53 is single-season career high for @TheJudge44! 👨‍⚖️👏 pic.twitter.com/yhkDtaX6ra

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 4, 2022

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Aaron Judge is doing everything he can to stop the Yankees’ slide — and he’s getting closer to Roger Maris’ home run record by the day.

Judge led off Sunday’s 2-1 win over the Rays with a mammoth homer into the upper deck in left field at Tropicana Field, his 53rd home run of the season, leaving him eight short of Maris’ record of 61 set in 1961.

It also marked a career-high for Judge, who hit 52 as a rookie in 2017.

The outfielder continues to be the only bright spot in a Yankee lineup that has completely fallen apart.