The Yankees urged Giancarlo Stanton to get back to the basics, focusing on waiting for his pitch and taking swings with conviction. Boy, did he ever.
Stanton rounded the bases twice in the 33rd multihomer game of his career, becoming the first player in the Statcast era to hit two homers of 115 mph or more in the same game. Those line-drive missiles highlighted a four-homer Yankees attack in a 5-3 victory over the Indians on Friday evening at Progressive Field.
After being given Thursday’s series opener off as a rest day, Stanton announced his presence loudly in the third inning, mashing a go-ahead 429-foot homer facing left-hander Logan Allen that sizzled off Stanton’s bat at 118 mph — the hardest-hit homer in the Majors so far this season.
Stanton provided an encore in his next at-bat, crushing a solo 418-foot drive to the bullpens in right-center field off right-hander Trevor Stephan. That homer came off Stanton’s bat at 115.7 mph.
Down 3-0 after one inning for the second consecutive night, the Yanks tied the game in the second inning as Aaron Hicks and Rougned Odor homered off Allen. That gave Jordan Montgomery room to settle in after a bumpy 37-pitch first inning, making an adjustment to get his pitches down in the strike zone.
Montgomery navigated into the fifth, showing his displeasure at being lifted from a two-on, two-out jam. Reliever Lucas Luetge dropped a nasty curve that caught Franmil Reyes looking, stranding those runners aboard and protecting the lead.
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Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].