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Giancarlo Stanton and the New York Yankees are on the verge of sweeping the Boston Red Sox in their ongoing three-game series at Fenway Park following the Bronx Bombers’ 5-3 win on Saturday.
With the win, the Yankees tied the Red Sox for the top spot in the wild card race over at the American League. New York and Boston now have identical 88-67 records, which means the winner of the series finale this Sunday will gain the solo lead for the driver’s seat in the AL wild card race.
Stanton was key to that Saturday win by the Yankees, as he cleared the bases and gave his team the lead for good with a grand slam in the top of the eighth inning off Red Sox lefty Darwinzon Hernandez. The hulking Stanton knew he was going to make the Red Sox pay if Hernandez failed to take out Anthony Rizzo, who was batting in front of Stanton.
Giancarlo Stanton describes what went through his mind when the Red Sox brought in Hernandez to face Anthony Rizzo:
"They better get him out."
(Narrator: they didn't.) pic.twitter.com/zTzJFj47ms
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) September 26, 2021
Indeed, Stanton made the most of the golden opportunity. Hernandez hit Rizzo with a pitch to load the bases and pave the way for Stanton to do what he does best.
This is not a good time to be giving Stanton chances to drive in runs, considering how great he’s been of late.
Stanton+Judge entering today:
.280/.364/.522 141 wRC+ with 68 HR
They've been so good. Healthy, too, given their histories. 1147 PA, 2nd and 3rd on the team in PA, behind only Lemahieu.
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) September 25, 2021
The Yankees, like the Red Sox, can no longer catch the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East, but New York now has a 79.5% chance of snatching a wild card ticket, per FanGraphs.