The Yankees won their fifth straight on Wednesday night, a thrilling 6-4 victory in 10 innings thanks to a pair of home runs that helped tie a major league record.
After David Bednar’s rare hiccup led to a blown two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, Giancarlo stepped in to pinch hit for Ryan McMahon to begin the top of the tenth. The red-hot Stanton worked the count full before lacing a 97 mph fastball over the wall in left for his fifth home run in the last six games, giving New York a two-run lead. The next batter, Austin Wells, destroyed a Pete Fairbanks curveball and sent it out of George M. Steinbrenner Field for his second homer of the day, and the Yankees’ 14th of the two-game set.
According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, the Yanks’ 14 home runs tied the most ever by a big-league team in a two-game span, matching the 1999 Reds, who hit a league record 10 home runs in one game during their torrid two-game stretch.
The first Reds hitter to go deep to begin that 14-homer surge? Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
Boone’s Yanks went deep five times on Wednesday, two coming from Wells and another two coming from Trent Grisham. Twenty four hours earlier, the Yankees tied a franchise record with nine home runs, which included multi-homer games from Stanton, Cody Bellinger, and Jose Caballero.
Their 14 home runs over the last two games surpassed a team record, previously 13.
The Yanks power surge moved them past the Red Sox in the AL East heading into a massive four-game set against Boston in the Bronx beginning Thursday night.