Giancarlo Stanton’s milestone blast powered the New York Yankees to a 6-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night at Camden Yards, closing the gap in the American League East to two games with a week left in the season.
Stanton opened the scoring in the first inning, crushing a two-out, three-run homer off Tomoyuki Sugano for the 450th of his career. The veteran slugger became the 41st player in MLB history to reach the mark and did so faster than all but four others. Aaron Judge then padded the lead in the third, hammering a solo shot, his 49th of the year, putting him on the brink of another 50-homer season.
Left-hander Carlos Rodón carried the rest, striking out eight over seven innings while allowing one run to notch his 17th victory and trim his ERA to 3.04.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham tacked on run-scoring singles in the fifth and sixth innings.
New York’s bullpen finished cleanly, with Luke Weaver striking out two in the eighth and David Bednar sealing the ninth on six pitches.
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The Yankees (87-68) can secure the series win Sunday afternoon when rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler faces Baltimore’s Kyle Bradish in the finale at 1:35 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].