Austin continues his habit of timely HRs
TORONTO — For a couple of innings, anyway, Tyler Austin got a chance to see what it feels like to be Giancarlo Stanton.
“I don’t look at it that way,” Austin said, softly. “I want to help this team win, any way I can.”
He certainly did his part. Trailing 2-0 to the Blue Jays in the top of the fifth inning Saturday, Austin creamed a first-pitch fastball from Marco Estrada deep into the second deck in left field, tying the game at 2-2.
Two innings later, after the Jays had seized a 3-2 lead, Austin victimized Estrada again with another long blast, tying the game 3-3. If the Yankees had gotten one runner on in the top of the ninth after they fell behind 5-3, it would have been Austin up as the tying run.
Given his heroics Saturday, that would have been just fine with them.
But given Austin’s brief career so far, it also wouldn’t have been a terrible option. He now has nine career home runs — eight of them have either tied games or given the Yankees a lead. He makes them count. Oh, and when he hits them? They stay hit.
“He brought a lot of energy to the dugout, no doubt,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, following his first loss on the job. “You got a little peek into the strength of Tyler Austin right there.”
Boone was more impressed by the way Austin bounced back against Estrada, who had fanned him to end the second inning.
“The first at-bat, Estrada had his way with him,” Boone said. “And then he adjusted.”
Austin was less impressed: “I struck out on three pitches. I knew I didn’t want to do that again.”
Nether was he impressed by the distance of either of his homers, saying, “You just want to put a good swing on them. When you hit them like that you barely feel it.”