Giancarlo Stanton’s Early Haymaker Homer The Difference For Yankees

Giancarlo Stanton’s Early Haymaker Homer The Difference For Yankees

The Guardians were looking to bleed the clock, the way those old Carolina basketball teams used to. Get a few zeroes against the Yankees. Empty the bullpen. Keep things close in this Game 5 of the AL Division Series. Keep it close enough, late enough, maybe the collective anxiety of a New York crowd of 48,178 might drip into the Yankees’ veins, too.

And then, you never know.

It was a sensible plan.

But then, as Mike Tyson once said: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

Giancarlo Stanton punched the Guardians in the mouth.

“You’re looking for an early spark,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, “and there it was.”

It was already clear, three batters into the bottom of the first, that the moment was too big for Cleveland pitcher Aaron Civale. He walked Gleyber Torres on four pitches. He hit Anthony Rizzo. Civale is a command pitcher who had zero command. This is a dangerous proposition at Yankee Stadium in October.

Civale missed with his first two pitches to Stanton, batting cleanup. The crowd began to stir, began to buzz. His third pitch was a cutter, 87 mph, floating plate-ward as big and as beautiful as a beach ball.

Stanton swung. And knew. Everyone knew. When it finally landed in the never-never land of the right-field stands, the Yankees led, 3-0. The Guardians had to put away the Four Corners and play catch-up instead, and that was going to be an impossible order on this night, with Nestor Cortes sharp and the Yankees’ bullpen rested.

Giancarlo Stanton celebrates after blasting a three-run homer in the first inning of the Yankees’ 5-1 ALDS-clinching win over the Guardians.N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg

“It’s important to throw the first punch,” Stanton said.

It ended 5-1. It allowed the Yankees to sidestep the pesky Guardians, head to Houston for an immediate date with the Astros in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series Wednesday. It is precisely the place the Yankees have been pointing to all season long.

“We’ve got to get through them to get where we want to go,” Stanton said inside a champagne-drenched Yankees clubhouse. “They’re in the way. We’ve got to take care of it. We’ve got more work to do.”

Giancarlo Stanton belts a three-run homer in the first inning of the Yankees’ ALDS-clinching win.N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg

Stanton turned the ignition key late Tuesday afternoon, one swing of the bat, one big fly that may have landed among the hands in the right-field stands but really carried all the way to Minute Maid Park, Game 1, Wednesday evening.

It did more than simply earn Stanton a classic Stadium October roar. It was his second home run of the series. It helped reinforce his oft-overlooked status as a genuine October gamer. The blast was the 11th of his postseason career. He now has 23 RBIs in 23 games.

As he scuffled this year during the regular season, alternating between injury and ineffectiveness, he still hit 31 homers. He still is a man who has hit 378 home runs in the big leagues at age 32, putting him in an EZ-Pass lane zipping toward 500.

Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo celebrate after the Yankees’ ALDS-clinching win over the Guardians.N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg

The Yankees relied so much on Aaron Judge this year that it has become easy to forget what a crucible the back-to-back-to-back stacking of Judge, Rizzo and Stanton can be, a right-left-right package that’ll be the 2-3-4 the lineup from here on in.

And here are two amazing things to ponder considering that Judge also homered, a solo shot to the same vicinity in right that extended the early lead to 4-0 in the second:

The Yankees are now 28-2 in games in which the two of them have homered.

This was the fourth time the two of them have homered in the same postseason game. That’s the most in Yankees history. No, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig didn’t do that. Neither did Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, or Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio.

(For the record, three duos did it three times: Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, Jeter and Bernie Williams, and Mickey Mantle and — wait for it — Billy Martin.)

Stanton — as Reggie Jackson once said of himself — didn’t come to New York to be a star, he brought his star with him. He hit 59 homers with the Marlins in 2017, meaning that if you only recognize the “clean” home run records the Yankees have both the single-season NL and AL champs in the first four spots in their batting order.

The Yankees have waited for that duo to be truly dynamic for an entire October. Starting Wednesday, they have a golden chance to make that happen for real.

“We’re ready to go,” Stanton said.

It sure looks that way. If so, Houston may have a problem

Stanton, Judge Power Yankees Past Guardians, Into ALCS

 New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (27) is congratulated by outfielder Aaron Judge after hitting a three-run home run against the Cleveland Guardians in Game 5 of their American League Division Series on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium in New York. Photo by Ray Stubblebine/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Giancarlo Stanton smashed a three-run homer in the first inning to spark a dominant win over the Cleveland Guardians in an ALDS finale, guiding the New York Yankees into an ALCS matchup with the Houston Astros.

The designated hitter's 379-foot shot to right, paired with a 394-foot solo blast from outfielder Aaron Judge in the second, gave the Yankees an insurmountable lead in the 5-1 triumph Tuesday at Yankee Stadium in New York.

"We definitely had to throw the first punch in a game like this," Stanton told reporters. "There were runners in scoring position. I just had to make sure I got a good pitch to hit."

Yankees starter Nestor Cortes allowed just three hits and one run over five innings to stifle the Guardians offense. Judge went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. The 2022 MLB home run champion was the only Yankees player to record more than one hit in Game 5.

"I felt a lot of pressure," Cortes said. "I knew our season was on the line. ... I was a little nervous because I knew the fans were waiting for our victory. It was an incredible atmosphere and incredible feeling."

Guardians starter Aaron Civale lasted for just 1/3 of an inning. He allowed two hits and three runs, with a walk and a strikeout, in the first.

Civale walked Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres to start the bottom of the first. He then struck out Judge, before hitting first baseman Anthony Rizzo with a pitch. Stanton smacked his three-run shot three pitches later.

Judge hit his long ball off a 1-0 curveball from Guardians reliever Sam Hentges in the bottom of the second.

Veteran third baseman Jose Ramirez plated the Guardians' lone run with an RBI sacrifice fly in the top of the third. Rizzo drove in the final run of the night when he plated Torres with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth.

Yankees relievers Jonathan Loasigia, Clay Holmes and Wandy Peralta allowed just five hits and no runs over the final four innings to clinch the victory.

The Yankees will battle the Astros in Game 1 of the best-of-seven game ALCS at 7:37 p.M. EDT Wednesday at Minute Maid Park in Houston. The winner of the series will meet the Philadelphia Phillies or San Diego Padres in the World Seres. The Phillies own a 1-0 lead in the NLCS.

The New York Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton (L) is congratulated by Aaron Judge after hitting a three-run homer in the first inning to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead against the Cleveland Guardians in Game 5 of their American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium in New York City on Tuesday. The Yankees beat the Guardians 5-1. Photo by Ray Stubblebine/UPI | License Photo