Aaron Judge may have tied Babe Ruth on Tuesday night at the Stadium, but Giancarlo Stanton stole the show.
Judge went deep for the 60th time on the season to lead off the bottom of the ninth, the first in a Yankees’ hit parade capped off by Stanton’s walk-off grand slam for a 9-8 win over the Pirates.
After Judge closed the gap to 8-5, Anthony Rizzo doubled, Gleyber Torres walked, and Josh Donaldson loaded the bases with a single to right-center. Stanton, who had been booed while striking out three times on the night, finally had his moment.
He launched an 89 mph changeup from Pittsburgh reliever Wil Crowe 410 feet over the left field wall with an exit velocity of 118 mph.
“It better have gone out,” he told the YES broadcast, pausing to acknowledge crazed Yankee Stadium fans. “It had a little motor on it, for sure.”
Stanton had been booed earlier in the game after striking out for the third time on the night.
The 32-year-old slugger has struggled in recent weeks, coming into Tuesday batting .157 with six home runs and 19 RBIs over his last 30 games. On the season, he’s hitting just .210, despite managing 27 homers — including Tuesday’s game-winner.
“Gotta get me rolling,” he said. “Anything I can do to help the team finish it off.”
Stanton credited his fellow ball-basher Judge for igniting the rally — and teased some bigger moments to come.
“He sparked all of us, helped us get the win,” Stanton said. “He’s been doing it all year. And he’s not done. He’s gonna put on a show for all of us in here.”