Before Wednesday’s loss to the Blue Jays, Isiah Kiner-Falefa said that his breakout was coming, and that he could only hope it happened sooner than later.
One night later, the Yankee shortstop tripled his season hit total in one game.
The struggling shortstop picked up three hits in Thursday’s win over the Blue Jays, scoring the first two runs of the game to help Luis Severino get his first victory since 2019.
Kiner-Falefa, who said earlier in the season that he was battling nerves to start his pinstriped tenure, felt he shrugged the fear off on Thursday.
“Not being scared,” Kiner-Falefa said. “I think the first couple of games I was very tentative and letting a lot of pitches go.”
Kiner-Falefa muscled a broken-bat single to set up the game’s first run, then scored after a double before a bunt single finished off his big night.
“Today something clicked,” Kiner-Falefa said. “I was aggressive. I felt like myself today and I got some good swings off. Just gotta keep working.”
Kiner-Falefa and Jose Trevino represented the bottom of the Yankee order that paced the offense, and Kiner-Falefa hopes to keep the same routine, and the same mindset that he had on Thursday to try and turn his breakout game into a hot streak.
“I just have to prepare,” Kiner-Falefa said. “The way I prepared for the game today, just do that every day. Just gotta be ready to play.”
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