TORONTO (AP) — Aaron Judge had gone seven games since his last home run, 34 plate appearances of fans quieting to a hush and snapping photos with every pitch.

Then with the score tied in the seventh inning on Wednesday night, he drove a 94.5 mph belt-high sinker to left, a no doubt rocket. He had tied Roger Maris’ American League record of 61 home runs in a season, what many fans consider baseball’s “clean” standard for the sport.

Judge’s two-run homer lifted the Yankees to an 8-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Judge has seven games to break the record, starting with a series opener against Baltimore at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.

The ball dropped into Toronto’s bullpen and was picked up by Blue Jays bullpen coach Matt Buschmann. He and Toronto closer Jordan Romano held onto the ball before turning it over to Yankees reliever Zack Britton, who made sure it got to Judge.

Judge moved past the 60 home runs Babe Ruth hit in 1927, which had stood as the major league mark until Maris broke it in 1961. All three stars reached those huge numbers playing for the Yankees.

Maris hit No. 61 for the Yankees on Oct. 1, 1961, against Boston pitcher Tracy Stallard. Maris’ mark has been exceeded six times, but all have been tainted by the stench of steroids. Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs in 1998 and 65 the following year, and Bonds topped him with 73 in 2001. Sammy Sosa had 66, 65 and 63 during a four-season span starting in 1998.

McGwire admitted using banned steroids, while Bonds and Sosa denied knowingly using performing-enhancing drugs. Major League Baseball started testing with penalties for PEDs in 2004.

Judge is hitting .313 with 130 RBIs, also the top totals in the AL. He has a chance to become the first AL Triple Crown winner since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012.

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