NEW YORK — Giancarlo Stanton got a reminder about patience on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium. In the New York Yankees’ critical 4-0 win over the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series, the veteran slugger almost turned a key moment into a costly mistake.
Stanton opened the bottom of the second inning with the score still 0-0. He connected on an 81 mph curveball from Red Sox starter Connelly Early and drove it toward left center. The crack of the bat sent more than 48,000 fans into a roar. Stanton himself thought he had launched a solo home run.
The 35-year-old shouted an expletive in celebration, turned toward his dugout, and began pumping up his teammates. He was sure the ball was headed to the bullpen seats. Instead, it smacked off the center-field wall and dropped to the track.
The ball left his bat at 114.5 mph and traveled 393 feet, but the launch angle betrayed him. What looked like a home run became a near disaster.
A mad dash to avoid disaster
Statcast data told the story of Stanton’s miscalculation. He took 7.51 seconds to jog from home to first. Only then did reality sink in. Stanton had to switch gears fast.
He raced to second base in 3.82 seconds and slid in safely for a double. The Yankees slugger narrowly avoided what could have been a costly baserunning blunder in an elimination game.
The ball, by measurement, would have been a homer in 15 of 30 major league parks. But not in the Bronx on this night. Yankee Stadium’s dimensions denied him.
Taking ownership with humor and humility
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After the game, with the Yankees celebrating advancement to the ALDS, Giancarlo Stanton faced questions from YES Network reporter Meredith Marakovits. His response balanced humor with accountability.
“The only doubt was if that was a homer or not whenever I hit it,” Stanton said. “Thank goodness for that bonehead play that the team was resilient enough and Cam (Schlittler) was resilient enough. And it didn’t mess up the chemistry or the moment.”
He then spoke directly to two audiences. “So that’s good. Kids at home, don’t do that. Future opponents, please do that. Bonehead play. Just glad it worked in our favor and it won’t happen again.”
The hit meant more than the numbers suggested
For Stanton, the double carried more weight than the box score reflected. It was his only hit in three at-bats, but it marked progress. He had entered Game 3 hitless in the series, going 0-for-8 with two strikeouts.
The veteran designated hitter is batting just .091 in this postseason. That contrasts sharply with his 2024 playoff run, when he hit .273 with seven home runs and 16 RBIs in 14 games.
The Yankees know they need Stanton’s bat to return to that form quickly. The Blue Jays, who beat New York in the season series 8-5 and edged them in the division standings by tiebreaker after both finished 94-68, await in the ALDS.
Rookie pitchers duel early before Yankees break through
But Boston’s defense faltered in the fourth. Manager Alex Cora pointed to miscues in the field as the turning point.
“We just didn’t play defense behind [Early],” Cora said. “They didn’t hit the ball hard, and we just didn’t make outs.”
The Yankees took advantage. They pushed across four runs in the inning and never looked back. Their pitchers carried the lead the rest of the way, sealing the shutout and the series win.
Making history with a comeback victory
The win also carried historic weight. New York became the first team to rally from a Game 1 loss to win a Wild Card Series since MLB adopted the current format in 2022.
The expansion created a best-of-three series for wild card teams. Before Thursday, no club had recovered after dropping the opener.
The Cleveland Guardians and San Diego Padres both attempted the same feat earlier in the day. The Guardians fell to the Tigers, and the Padres were eliminated by the Cubs. That left the Yankees as the lone team to pull it off.
New York lost the opener 3-1 on Tuesday, then survived with a 4-3 win in Game 2 on Wednesday. Thursday’s shutout clinched the comeback and ended Boston’s season.
Stanton and Yankees turn toward Toronto
The Yankees now prepare for a best-of-five showdown with the Blue Jays beginning Saturday. Stanton, who turned his mistake into a double and a lesson learned, will look to build on that at-bat and rediscover his October power stroke.
One takeaway from Thursday is clear: Stanton will not stand and admire another fly ball until it clears the fence.
