THANK YOU GARY MUCH!

Sanchez belts two bombs, Yanks even ALDS with Sox

BOSTON — Saturday night is exactly why the Yankees have patiently stuck by Gary Sanchez through his terrible season. The catcher has struggled behind the plate and unlike last year, Sanchez hasn't been able to make up for his defensive lapses with his bat.

The Yankees' faith in him never wavered, and Saturday night that paid off.

The catcher hit his first and second home runs of the postseason as the Yankees grabbed Game 2 of the American League Division Series, beating the Red Sox, 6-2, at Fenway Park.

The best-of-five series is now tied 1-1 and heads back to the Bronx for Game 3 on Monday night.

“We know he's capable of that. And you know, first three games into the playoffs, too, you know, almost more importantly he's caught really well,” Yankee manager Aaron Boone said. “I think he's been really good back there from the receiving, blocking, game-planning, all those kind of things.

“And then tonight just a monster night.”

Sanchez became the second catcher in Yankee history to have a multi-home run playoff game, joining Hall of Famer Yogi Berra.

“I definitely did not know that. But I can tell you it's an honor to be mentioned in the same sentence as him, a legend of baseball,” Sanchez said through the team translator. “It's an honor to me.”

It was the Yankees first multihome run game in the playoffs since Didi Gregorius hit two in Game 5 of the 2017 ALDS. This was Sanchez's first multi-homer game since May 19 at Kansas City.

Sanchez's first home run of the night led off the second inning and it came off Price, whom the Yankees have abused this season. Red Sox reliever Ryan Brasier got feisty with Sanchez in his fifth-inning at bat, screaming at Sanchez, who was stepping out of the batter's box, to get “back in the f---ing box.”

Maybe that added fuel to the fire, because his second shot of the night was a monster three-run homer to center field off lefty reliever Eduardo Rodriguez. He crushed it a whopping 478 feet, hitting the light stanchion in left-center field in the seventh inning.

That one had even Aaron Judge hyped up, but Sanchez shrugged it off.

“Everybody knows that Judge has way more power than me. You know, I don't have to tell that to anybody. But a homer is a homer,” Sanchez said. “And if we have the opportunity to score runs like that, you know, even if it's 300 feet, I'll take it. Anytime we score and we're helping the team, I'm going to take those.”

Sanchez was hampered by a groin injury that forced him onto the disabled list for most of July and August. He never seemed to be able to get going offensively. He finished the season hitting .186 with 18 homers and 53 RBI in 89 games.

Sanchez led all major league catchers with 18 passed balls. That's five more passed balls than Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon, who had the second most in the majors, but Sanchez accomplished that in 11 fewer games and 30 fewer innings.

With him behind the plate, the Yankees pitchers have thrown 45 wild pitches, the fifth most in the majors.

Saturday night, he seemed to be finally putting it together.

“I think he did a great job on both sides, offensively and defensively,” Masahiro Tanaka said. “You really need to be on the same page as far as the defense is concerned. And I think we were able to do that for the most part. You know, you do meetings and stuff and you go into the game, and you make adjustments, if that's necessary.

“I think we did a really good job tonight.”

GM Brian Cashman always felt it was a matter of time until Sanchez would come around.

“I believe in the player clearly. Next season is now, hopefully it starts,” Cashman said before the start of the ALDS. “I thought he played really well in the wild card game, hopefully he'll do what Gary Sanchez is capable of doing on both sides of the plate in this series.”

“October is the second season,” Cashman added. “We're hoping we'll see what we're used to seeing from Gary, which is a great player.”

Saturday night, the Yankees got a glimpse of that great player they remembered from last season. Their patience finally paid off in a big way.