With just seven games left in the season, the biggest swing of the Yankees’ season to date now belongs to Giancarlo Stanton.
Down one with two outs in the top of the eighth, Stanton jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Boston southpaw reliever Darwinzon Hernandez and sent it 452 feet over the Green Monster for a go-ahead grand slam, sending the Yanks to a 5-3 win and into a tie with Boston for the top Wild Card spot.
“Great feeling,” Stanton said. “Lot of emotions going on. I’m just glad I was able to do it, compress everything and be on time for the fastball, and something good happened.”
Hernandez was brought in with two on and two out to try and retire lefty Anthony Rizzo to end the inning, and with the powerful Stanton lurking on deck and MLB’s three batter minimum guaranteeing Stanton would face Hernandez if Rizzo reached, Stanton had one thought as Hernandez took his warmup pitches.
“They better get him out,” Stanton said. “Better get Rizzo. I obviously would rather face a lefty than a righty at any time.”
After Hernandez plunked Rizzo to set the stage for Stanton, the Yankee slugger wasted no time making the lefty pay, hitting a no-doubt shot to awaken an offense that had been struggling most of the day following an outburst against Nathan Eovaldi the night before.
The slump immediately following a breakout would have been another frustrating reminder of how inconsistent the Yankee bats have been, but Stanton avoided that continued narrative by having his biggest moment of the Yanks/Red Sox rivalry.
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“Against the Red Sox, I’d say yeah, for sure,” Stanton said. “Given what’s at stake, we all know what is, we’re now in a better situation than we were yesterday and the day before. It’s our job to get out of this city in an even better situation [Sunday].”
For Stanton, his titanic home run was the continuation of a power streak that started back on Aug. 1. He has blasted 17 home runs since then, has 33 on the season, and is slashing .275/,358/.872 on the year while staying healthy and playing the outfield. It has been a best-case scenario feeling for the Yankees, who have watched Stanton turn his season into a largely productive one thanks to some changes at the plate, which were seen on Saturday when a quicker swing at the plate sent his biggest home run of the season out of Fenway Park in a hurry.
“Just being a little shorter, a little more direct,” Stanton said. “Staying inside the ball better. I was making hard contact but straight into the ground, ground ball singles…we’ve been able to get some more lift and get the ball up.”
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