The adage goes that you see something new every day in baseball.
That rang true for Yankees manager Aaron Boone on Saturday afternoon.
Home runs rarely land where Giancarlo Stanton launched the first of his two home runs in the Yankees’ 6-3 win over the Cubs at the Stadium.
In vintage fashion, Stanton demolished a solo home run with two out in the first inning.
The ball smacked off the facing of the Audi Club high up in the left-field stands.
Stanton had obliterated the 1-0 sinker in the top of the zone, sending it on its way — an estimated 447 feet — with a 118.1 mph exit velocity.
It’s the second hardest Stanton has hit a ball this year, behind only a double play he hit into with a 118.3 mph exit velocity during a loss to the Mets on June 14.
“He hit it off the facade of the upper deck,” Boone said while chuckling after the game. “I’ve never seen a ball go up there. To hit it 118 [mph], that high, to the direct pull side, you can’t make that up.
“That’s as weird as it gets.”
Stanton picked a more usual spot in the fifth inning, clubbing a two-run homer to the Stadium’s short right-field porch to extend the Yankees’ lead to 6-1.
That one traveled just 322 feet with a 91.3 mph exit velocity but gave Stanton his first multi-homer game since May 12 of last year.
He finished 2-for-3 with a walk.
Perhaps it’s finally a sign Stanton is on the verge of breaking out of a prolonged slump.
“Over the years, I’ve gotten some pretty good ones,” Stanton said. “But that [first] one was nice. Worth one run though, that’s it.”
Entering Saturday, Stanton had just one home run in his last eight games and just two in the last 25 he appeared in.
During that stretch, Stanton had a .151/.240/.256 slash line with a .495 OPS. That skid has coincided with Aaron Judge’s injury absence.
The Yankees’ offense as a whole has largely gone quiet in recent weeks.
Judge is expected to remain on the injured list for the foreseeable future, so the Yankees are relying on Stanton to help carry the offense in his place and provide a needed power threat in the middle of the lineup.
“He’s getting closer,” Boone said. “He’s as unique as they come. You’ve just gotta ride through it. And then when he locks it in, he can go for a while.”
