Slugger homers for second straight game as Yankees improve to Majors-best 8-2
April 7th, 2024
Bryan Hoch
@BryanHochNEW YORK -- The echoing sound was unmistakable, the crack of Giancarlo Stanton’s bat demanding immediate attention from all within a two-block radius of 161st Street and River Avenue. Whether wandering the concourse, scrolling on a smartphone or chowing on a hot dog, you needed to see this one.
Though Stanton has spent the better part of a decade crushing baseballs like few others, the power is still jaw-dropping when his swing clicks right. That was the case in Sunday's third inning, as the slugger launched a long grand slam in the Yankees’ 8-3 victory over the Blue Jays.
“Sometimes,” Stanton said, “you know it off the bat.”
Yes, this was one of those. The 417-foot drive off Toronto’s Bowden Francis rocketed off Stanton’s bat at 110.6 mph, per Statcast. It was Stanton’s 11th career grand slam -- sixth as a Yankee -- and his second home run in as many games.
Stanton took a few steps while admiring the blast, which clipped the base of an advertisem*nt far beyond the left-field wall, then flipped his bat. Stanton has something to celebrate, believing he has found his timing after beginning the season 3-for-24 (.125) with 13 strikeouts.
“I’ve been able to stay more in my legs,” Stanton said. “It’s good. Over and over again, game after game, just continue to have good at-bats. Put all four or five of them together, not just one or two, and good things will continue to happen.”
In Saturday’s win over the Jays, Stanton scraped the top of the right-field wall with a drive, prompting an umpire review to determine if there had been fan interference.
While waiting out that brief delay in the dugout, Aaron Judge sidled up to Stanton and encouraged his teammate to try hitting the ball a few rows deeper, thus saving everyone a few precious minutes. As Stanton joked on Sunday: “Oh yeah, no review on that.”
“If he goes, we all go,” said Anthony Volpe, who stroked three hits and stole a pair of bases to help the Yankees pull away late. “He’s right there in the middle, protecting all the big guys, too. With him being so good, it trickles all the way down. It’s huge.”
Stanton’s first slam since Sept. 20, 2022, highlighted a five-run frame for the Bombers, who tied the game when Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. They wouldn’t trail the rest of the way, tacking on against the Toronto bullpen.
“Guys had really good at-bats in front of [Stanton] to set that situation up,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He got a pitch that he didn’t miss. It turned out to be the blow of the day. G has been in the at-bats all year; just not getting the results yet, with some swing-and-miss in there. The last couple of days, it’s good to get some results.”
The Yankees are tied with the Pirates (8-2) for the Majors’ best record. They’ve won eight of their first 10 games for just the second time in the past 21 years, having also opened the pandemic-shortened 2020 season with an 8-2 record.
“We’ve been able to win games in different ways,” Boone said. “In a lot of ways, I don’t even feel like we’re totally clicking offensively yet. We’re doing what we need to do.”
One day after the bullpen nearly frittered away a seven-run lead, the trusty lineup card folded into Boone’s back pocket again received a workout, with starter Luis Gil striking out eight over 4 1/3 innings of two-run, two-hit ball.
Gil clashed with home plate umpire Angel Hernández during an erratic third inning that featured two walks and a hit-by-pitch, but he limited the damage to Alejandro Kirk’s bases-loaded walk, striking out Cavan Biggio to wriggle free.
“I thought he did a really good job after that tough inning, settling in and getting back in the strike zone,” Boone said. “It was a good learning moment.”
Jake Cousins recorded three outs to earn his first Yankees victory in relief, followed by Nick Burdi, Caleb Ferguson and Dennis Santana. Boone said he’d hoped to avoid using Santana, who instead provided five outs of spotless work to earn his first save.
“That’s huge. They’re coming up big,” Stanton said. “They’ve given us a chance to win every game, and that’s all you can ask for.”
