Home runs by Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge and seven strong innings by Carlos Rodon led the Yankees to a 6-1 victory at Baltimore on Saturday night.
BALTIMORE – Until he arrived as a Yankee, Giancarlo Stanton had never experienced October – enduring eight playoff-less years in Miami.
Since his first playoff appearance in 2018, Stanton’s postseason portfolio includes 18 homers in 41 games.
Last year, Stanton belted seven homers in 14 Yankee postseason games while swinging with two aching elbows.
That issue followed him into 2025, delaying Stanton’s season opener until June 16.
Upon his return, “I just wanted to make sure I’m productive,’’ said Stanton, wondering along with everyone else how he’d physically respond after that double bout of severe tennis elbow.
On Saturday night, Stanton belted his 450th career home run – a three-run, first inning blast that sent the Yankees toward a 6-1 victory against the Orioles at Camden Yards.
Despite Stanton’s long recovery, “I was confident we’d get him back,’’ said Yanks manager Aaron Boone. “I just wasn’t sure of the timeline.’’
All of Stanton’s 21 home runs this year have been hit since July 2, a 69-game span
Judge, Stanton launch HRs in same game for the 57th time, including postseason
Aaron Judge added his 49th homer of the year, a solo shot, and Carlos Rodon kept up his ready-for-postseason pace, delivering seven strong innings, yielding one run.
And in this suddenly insane AL playoff picture, the wild-card leading Yankees arrive at Sunday’s road finale just two games behind the reeling AL East leading Toronto Blue Jays with seven games left.
“We can’t really pay attention to them,’’ Stanton said of Toronto, which holds the important tiebreaker over the Yanks. “We just have to do our thing every night.’’
Giancarlo Stanton's Hall of Fame path
Stanton’s two-out drive off a 2-and-2 slider by Tomoyuki Sugano gave the Yanks a quick 3-0 lead.
That snapped a tie with Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell and Vladimir Guerrero, lifting Stanton to sole possession of 41st place on MLB’s all-time home run list.
“It’s cool to see the names I’m catching and tying,’’ said Stanton, the fifth-fastest player in terms of games (1,719) to reach 450 homers, behind Mark McGwire, Babe Ruth, Alex Rodriguez and Harmon Killebrew.
"He's so good at the mental game, unaffected by outside praise or criticism,'' said Boone, calling Stanton "as focused a player between the lines as there is.''
“Most important, it was a win,’’ said Stanton, with Rodon lowering his ERA to 2.17 over his last eight starts; the lefty will have one more tune-up before riding into a likely Game 2 playoff start - riding shotgun to Max Fried.
“Felt like he was ahead all night,’’ Boone said of Rodon’s efficient 96-pitch effort, with eight strikeouts, four hits and a walk, and maybe the best changeup he’s had yet.
"It's become an important pitch for him,'' Boone said of Rodon, now 17-9 with a 3.04 ERA in a career-high matching 32 starts.
In turn, Rodon marveled at Stanton’s achievement,
“Pretty big number,’’ Rodon said of No. 450. “He’s one of the clubhouse leaders in here, and an incredible player.
“I would say he’s making a case’’ for Cooperstown, echoing Boone’s suggestion that Stanton is having “a Hall of Fame career’’ and “feel like he’s got a lot left, a lot more to go.’’
“It’s cool to hear. Still rolling,’’ said Stanton, adding that his Cooperstown candidacy is for the media to debate.
The next milestone of 500 homers is “a lot of swings away,’’ said Stanton. “Of course you think about it.’’
Beyond helping the Yanks to their 23rd win in their last 34 games, Stanton was also glad to get the baseball that he launched for No. 450.
According to Stanton, a kid named Everett, wearing his No. 27 Yankees jersey, and the boy’s father caught the ball and presented it to Stanton after the game.
In exchange, Stanton signed some baseballs and autographed a bat.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Giancarlo Stanton launches career home run No. 450, Yankees move within two games of first place Toronto
Category: Baseball
