The New York Yankees took Thursday night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles 5-2. Starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery allowed just a couple of runs in 5.2 innings, Mike King was incredible from the mound again, and Clay Holmes earned the save in the latest victory.
The Yankees are now 12-6, leading the AL East by half a game over the 12-7 Toronto Blue Jays. The win also featured home runs by Joey Gallo, his second in consecutive games, and Giancarlo Stanton.
Speaking of Stanton, he reached a cool milestone last night: 350 home runs in his career. In fact, he is the seventh-fastest player to reach that numbers in terms of games played, with 1,341.
“It’s pretty cool,” the Yankees’ slugger told MLB.com. “When I began this journey, I didn’t really know what to expect or where I’d be, or how long I’d be around. So it’s a cool feat, and it helped us get a win and keep pushing.”
A no-doubter for the Yankees’ outfielder
Stanton’s homer was a majestic two-run shot that traveled 417 feet and left his bat at 108.6 mph. “That guy, he’s a baller,” Aaron Judge said. “He shows up every day ready to work. I know when he first got here in ’18, he got a lot of criticism and a lot of weight was put on his shoulders, but he handled it the right way. He continues to be a leader in this clubhouse and grow every single year I see him.”
A lot has happened since he hit his first home run, back in 2010 against Matt Garza. That was a grand slam, and those days, the Yankees weren’t even in the back of his head: he played for the Miami Marlins.
“That was a completely different player, to be honest,” Stanton said of his 2010 self. “My stance was completely open. I was weighed down. I was swinging as hard as I could, every pitch. Sometimes I get back to that, but I’m just learning and evolving from that person. There’s still plenty of room to evolve.”
The six players who reached 350 home runs faster than Stanton are Mark McGwire (1,280), Juan Gonzalez (1,298), Alex Rodriguez (1,301), Harmon Killebrew (1,319), Albert Pujols (1,320) and Babe Ruth (1,329).