BACK 2 BASH!
Sanchez & Stanton break out with HRs to lift Yanks :
The Yankees are 46-20.
They own the best record in baseball.
They’ve lost just one series since April 19 and lead the league in home runs — by a considerable margin.
And yet on Saturday afternoon, after the Yankees handed the Rays a 4-1 loss at the Stadium, the presiding mood in the home clubhouse focused on unrealized potential. Players truly believe the best is yet to come for a lineup that has already established itself as one of the best in the majors, and Saturday’s win makes it hard to argue with that sentiment.
Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez smashed back-to-back homers in the fifth inning off Ryan Yarbrough, helping turn a slim two-run advantage into a commanding 4-0 lead.
Both sluggers were supposed to be key pieces for this offense in 2018, but neither has produced consistently thus far.
Sanchez entered Saturday as one of the worst qualified hitters in baseball with a sub.-190 average.
Stanton, meanwhile, has come and gone at the plate, enduring some extended powerless streaks.
But with two mighty swings under the near-summer sun in the Bronx, the true capability of this Yankees offense came into crystalclear focus, which has Aaron Judge — who hit two doubles in the victory — dreaming of what could be.
“It’s going to be impressive. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Judge said after the win. “We have kind of dipped into it here every now and then. But once it starts heating up a little bit and we start coming around, it’s going to be a fun summer.”
“There’s still room for improvement,” Judge added. “All around.”
Stanton led off the fifth with his home run, golfing a low 2-2 changeup into the left-field seats. Sanchez followed by driving an inside 1-2 fastball to straight away center, just clearing the fence.
For Stanton — a player showered with boos by his home fans on many occasions this season — it was his first homer at the Stadium since May 13 and his 16th total on the year. For Sanchez, it was his first homer of any kind since May 19.
So yes, Stanton agrees with Judge: This team has not yet peaked. Not even close.
“We’ve had timely hitting, big hits, guys step up,” Stanton said. “But he’s right: We haven’t all clicked at the same time, and once that happens and once we’re on all cylinders, there’s more room, more room to get better.”
The bombs from Sanchez and Stanton gave right-hander Luis Severino all the breathing room he needed. Severino fired eight shutout innings, striking out nine, before Aroldis Chapman earned his league-high 20th save in the ninth.
That clinched another series win for the Yankees, their 14th in the last 17. It’s a pace the Yankees believe is not only sustainable, but below what they should actually be achieving.
“Everyone knows what we’re capable of,” Stanton said.
“We got to put it together out there.”
The fact the Yankees are winning at this clip amid Sanchez’s epic slump and Stanton’s inconsistency highlights the contributions of guys like Judge, Gleyber Torres (RBI double in the win) and Miguel Andujar.
“That’s what happens when you have a good team and good guys around you,” Sanchez said through a translator.
Added Stanton: “When you don’t contribute every night and you’re able to knock out series, knock out wins over and over again, it helps and makes it, for this long stretch, much better.”
Sanchez, who went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts Saturday, said he’s “definitely feeling better” at the plate.
His home run came a day after he delivered a bases-clearing double in Friday’s win, his first RBI in June.
“You’re just pulling for guys that you really care about getting it rolling,” Aaron Boone said. “You know what they’re putting into it. You know how hard their working at their craft.”
If Saturday was any indication, these first two months could merely be the start for this homerun-bashing, pitcher-nightmareinducing Yankee lineup.
Watch out.