Stanton has 2 hits but no homers as Marlins win
MIAMI » Giancarlo Stanton paused in his pursuit of a hallowed home run number, acknowledged he’s shooting for 61 and said he finds baseball’s statistical history both alluring and tainted.
Stanton’s six-game homer streak ended Wednesday, but he singled, stole a base and scored in a four-run first inning to help the Miami Marlins beat the San Francisco Giants 8-1.
While Stanton didn’t come close to hitting his 45th homer of the year, he’s on pace to finish with 61 and said that number is a goal.
“When you grow up watching all the old films of Babe Ruth and (Mickey) Mantle and those guys, 61 has always been that printed number,” Stanton said.
Ruth hit a record 60 homers in 1927, and Stanton said he gives that achievement an asterisk because the sport wasn’t integrated then. Mantle’s teammate Roger Maris broke the record with 61 in 1961.
Barry Bonds set the current record of 73 in 2001 during the steroids era, and Stanton said he also considers that total tainted.
“I do, but at the same time it doesn’t matter,” he said. “The record is the record.”
Lately Stanton has been on a pace that would allow him to challenge Bonds. Facing three Giants pitchers, he failed to homer for only the third time in the past 13 games, and fell two games short of tying the major league record for the longest home run streak at eight games.
That record is shared by Dale Long (1956), Ken Griffey Jr. (1993) and Stanton’s manager, Don Mattingly (1987)
“I wasn’t really a home run guy like Giancarlo,” Mattingly said. “I’m hitting singles and doubles mostly, and he’s hitting balls 500 feet.”
After his single in the first, Stanton was hit under his left arm by a 91-mph pitch in the second, tapped out to the pitcher in the fourth, grounded out to short with the bases loaded to end the fifth and singled in the eighth. His average rose to .287.
“If I have good at-bats, it’s a good day for me,” he said. “I ain’t going to hit a homer 45 games straight.” RED SOX 5, CARDINALS 4 » Mookie Betts lined a two-run double off the left-field wall with two outs in the ninth inning, capping a threerun rally that lifted Boston to a win over St. Louis.
Xander Bogaerts hit a solo homer for the AL East-leading Red Sox, who won for the 12th time in 14 games and maintained their 4½game lead over the second-place New York Yankees. YANKEES 5, METS 3 » Aaron Judge launched a titanic homer, Didi Gregorius snapped a seventh-inning tie with a two-run double and the Yankees beat the Mets for their third straight victory in the Subway Series.
After taking the first two matchups in the Bronx this week, the Yankees kept up their winning ways when the crosstown rivalry shifted to Queens. Judge enjoyed his first game at Citi Field, hitting a solo drive into the rarely reached third deck in left.
Mets left fielder Yoenis Cespedes never even budged as Judge’s ALleading 37th home run, projected at 457 feet, soared way over his head. ANGELS 3, NATIONALS 2 » Luis Valbuena and Kole Calhoun homered, Ricky Nolasco bounced back from a rocky first inning before exiting with an injury and Los Angeles defeated Washington to split their two-game series.
The Angels won for time in eight games. ROYALS 7, ATHLETICS 6 » Alex Gordon hit a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the ninth after Oakland tied it in the bottom of the eighth, the seventh and Kansas City beat the Athletics.
Alcides Escobar doubled to start the ninth against Blake Treinen (11), matching his season high with three hits. Then Gordon delivered his second run-scoring single of the series finale. MARINERS 7, ORIOLES 6 » Recently acquired Yonder Alonso hit his first homer for Seattle and drove in three runs, and Marc Rzepczynski struck out Chris Davis with the bases loaded to end the Mariners’ win over Baltimore.
Alonso, acquired in a trade with Oakland on Aug. 6, hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, his 23rd of the season. He added an RBI single during a three-run fifth and also singled in the seventh. BLUE JAYS 3, RAYS 2 » Marcus Stroman pitched 6.1 innings, Steve Pearce homered and scored twice and Toronto beat Tampa Bay.
Stroman (11-6) allowed two runs and six hits to beat the Rays for the first time in five career meetings at Rogers Centre. The right-hander entered 0-3 with a 6.38 ERA in four home starts against the Rays. BREWERS 7, PIRATES 6» Manny Pina hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to lift Milwaukee over Pittsburgh. Pina’s one-out shot to right field, one of five home runs by the Brewers, came off Pirates reliever Juan Nicasio (1-5).
The Pirates grabbed an early lead on Josh Bell’s run-scoring single.