BOSTON — It sounded like October. The sharp crack of the ball off the bat. The brief gasp and then half of the sold-out crowd erupting into chaos. As Giancarlo Stanton’s game-winning grand slam flew like a rocket over the Green Monster, then dropped over the fans on top and left Fenway Park entirely onto Lansdowne Street, it sounded like a playoff game.
Or at least what the Yankees hope October will sound like in the Bronx.
If the Yankees are going to make noise in the postseason next month, it will be in large part because of Stanton. He hit his second grand slam of the season to pull the Bombers to a 5-3 win over the Red Sox.
“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,” Stanton said. “So it’s our job to get out of this city in an even better situation tomorrow.”
The Yankees’ fifth straight win propelled them into a tie with the Red Sox for the top American League wild card spot. With that comes the chance to host the Wild Card Game Oct. 5. The Red Sox (88-67), however, still would hold the season series, which would be the tiebreaker, so the Yankees (88-67) must finish with a better record if they are to clinch that top spot. The Yankees have a rougher schedule ahead with the Blue Jays and Rays — who clinched the AL East Saturday night — while Boston has the Orioles and Nationals to finish off the season.
Stanton’s homer — his 33rd of the season, second in as many nights and seventh in his last 13 games — put the Yankees in a better position to do that.
The Yankees had struggled to get anything going offensively before that and the first two hitters in the eighth went down quickly. Then Brett Gardner battled back from 1-2 to work a walk off Tanner Houck. Aaron Judge walked before Red Sox manager Alex Cora went to the lefty to face lefty hitter Anthony Rizzo.
Stanton, standing on deck, had a simple thought.
“He better get him out,” Stanton said. “Because I’d rather face a lefty than a righty.”
Instead, Hernandez hit Rizzo to load the bases. With the three-hitter minimum rule, Cora was stuck and had to leave the lefty in to face Stanton.
“I mean it was incredible, the whole dugout was electric,” said Nestor Cortes, who allowed two runs over 4.1 innings to give the Yankees a chance to come back. “We were so happy at the moment … As soon as he rounded second base, he looked at us, we gave him a flex, and it was an awesome, great feeling.”
Since Aug. 1, around when he began playing in the outfield again, Stanton has hit 17 homers and driven in 45 runs. In high-leverage situations, Stanton is hitting .302 with a .583 slugging percentage, according to the YES Network researchers. In 23 career games at Fenway Park, Giancarlo Stanton is 33 for 86 with five homers, seven doubles, one triple and 20 RBI.
Perhaps one of the most controversial Yankees, Stanton has been hated and loved in his time in pinstripes. He was booed in his very first game as a Yankee for striking out and ridiculed for his struggles to stay on the field and healthy the past two seasons. This year, Stanton has not only stayed healthy thanks to some changes in his training regimen, but he’s also played in the outfield since the end of July, something he didn’t do all of last season.
Since then, he’s been a monster at the plate as well, winning back the fans with the potential for him to change the trajectory of a game with one swing. Since Aug. 1, he is hitting .309 with 17 home runs and 45 RBI.
He credits some tweaks to his swing.
“Just being a little shorter, though. A little more direct, staying inside balls better,” Stanton said of the change. “I was hitting some hard. I was making hard contact but straight to the ground: ground ball singles, pretty hard, where we’re now able to get some lift.”
He has been dominant, the type of impact player the Yankees thought they were trading for in the winter of 2017. If he can keep it up, the Yankees will be able to make some real noise in October.
