RAYS OVERCOME STANTON
Giancarlo Stanton only comes up every couple innings in a game.
And for that the Tampa Bay Rays can be thankful.
Certainly, the Rays realize that is the only reason they were able to beat the Yankees 7-5 on Tuesday night at Petco Park and even their five-game AL Division Series at a game apiece.
Stanton, who hit a ninthinning grand slam in Monday night’s Game 1 win, added homers in his first two atbats in Game 2 — providing four RBIs for the Yankees — to give him five homers in four postseason games.
“I’m having good at-bats,” Stanton said after Game 1. “That’s what it’s about, just wearing these pitchers down and it will click eventually.”
He homered for the fourth straight postseason game, etching his name next to Reggie Jackson (1977) and Lou Gehrig (1932) for such distinction in Yankees lore.
New York threatened in the ninth inning, scoring a run and placing the potential tying runs at the corners with two outs before Aaron Judge grounded out to third base to end the game.
Tampa Bay starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow had little trouble with the rest of the Yankees lineup, allowing one other hit beyond Stanton’s homers — a second-inning single by Aaron Hicks — and three walks in five-plus innings. Glasnow’s 10 strikeouts set a Tampa Bay postseason record.
Right-hander Charlie Morton, Tampa Bay’s Game 3 starter today, now has the challenge of giving the Rays the lead in the ALDS and the chore of keeping Stanton in the ballpark.
If he gets the support Glasnow received, then Morton will have a chance.
Tampa muscled its way back into the series with the long ball.
Left fielder Randy Arozarena hit a solo homer in the first inning for the second straight game. Teammates Mike Zunino and Manuel Margot followed with tworun homers in the second and third innings, respectively. And DH Austin Meadows homered leading off the sixth in his return to the starting lineup.
It was a particularly satisfying moment for Meadows, who began the regular season sidelined by COVID-19 and ended it on the IL with an oblique strain.
Amid all this was center fielder Kevin Kiermaier’s RBI single in the fifth, which was significant in that it produced the only run in the game that wasn’t the result of a homer.
The Rays may enjoy hitting here more than anyone but Stanton.
He likes to hit at Petco Park.
A lot.
There are bruised bricks at the Western Metals Supply Co. building to prove it.
Stanton, who grew up in Los Angeles, enjoys coming to Southern California in general and San Diego in particular.
He now has 11 homers in 21 games at Petco Park.
That doesn’t count the then-record 61 homers he hit to win the Home Run Derby before the 2016 All-Star Game here.
Glasnow’s first mistake came when he threw an 83 mph curveball to Stanton leading off the second inning. Stanton f licked his wrists and sent the ball into the seats just inside the rightfield foul pole, tying the game 1-1.
There was no shame in being beaten by the slugger, who appears well healed from the hamstring strain that limited him to 23 games this season.
Then again, Stanton hasn’t had to test it much in the playoffs running the bases. Jogging is sufficient when you put the ball out of play.
Stanton’s three-run homer in the fourth inning trimmed Tampa Bay’s lead to 5-4. It came on a four-seam fastball from Glasnow that came to the plate at 97 mph. Stanton sent it 458 feet the other way, with the ball landing on The Landing just beneath the giant left-field videoboard.