Stanton’s blast sparks rally in 9th
TORONTO — For most of Wednesday afternoon, Aaron Judge thought the Yankees were flat.
Giancarlo Stanton changed that with one swing.
Leading off the top of the ninth in a game the Yankees trailed by two runs, Stanton crushed a 437foot home run into the second deck in left field that sparked a four-run rally on the way to a 6-4 win over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
“He damn near hit it out of the stadium, so I think that’s what got everybody going,” Judge said. “All game, I felt like we were a little flat offensively, even defensively. We were talking every single inning, ‘Hey, just pick it up a notch.’ Finally Big G stepped up and he picked it up a notch for us. I think that really got us going.”
The Yankees had just six hits entering the ninth inning, when they strung together five to knock off the Blue Jays and avoid the sweep. While Jose Trevino delivered the game-tying single and Judge the go-ahead single, they pointed to Stanton’s home run that made it a 4-3 game as key to lifting the dugout.
“Then it was like, ‘All right, here we go,’ ” manager Aaron Boone said.
“I think Giancarlo’s ball gets everybody going,” added Juan Soto, who hit a solo shot of his own in the eighth inning to get the Yankees within 4-2.
For Stanton, the impact of his long ball was simple.
“To put us within a run, that’s one swing away now with three outs,” he said. “A bunch of guys were ready to have good at-bats and put the ball in play and make it tough on them. Definitely it didn’t hurt.
“One run away is definitely different than two or three,” he added. “Just to get within one and put pressure on every at-bat thereafter —
Trevy coming off the bench with a huge hit, Judgey getting deep in that count and putting us up, all big-time. Soto going off all game. Pure team win.”
The home run was Stanton’s team-leading fifth of the season in his 15th game as he finished the day batting .254 with a .861 OPS. “[Feeling] pretty good, seeing the ball well,” Stanton said. “I think my balance has been pretty good. Just keep building off of it.”