Giancarlo Stanton’s historic homer resembled so many of the previous 399.
A line-drive rocket right off the bat.
On Tuesday night, Stanton hit his 400th home run, Gerrit Cole improved his Cy Young Award chances, and the New York Yankees defeated the Detroit Tigers 5-1.
For the last-place Yankees (69-69), DJ LeMahieu blasted his second leadoff homer in four games, and Gleyber Torres added a two-run double.
“I’m happy we’re playing good baseball,” Cole said.
In the sixth inning, Stanton’s two-run homer against reliever José Cisnero broke a 1-1 tie. The slugger hit 400 home runs in 1,520 games, which was the fourth-fastest in big league history, after only Mark McGwire (1,412), Babe Ruth (1,475), and Alex Rodriguez (1,489). Albert Pujols ranks seventh with 1,523 points.
“That’s a big amount. “We just celebrated that moment with him, and coming in late to tie the game,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s a very G-esque ball that no one hits like that.” “A true missile.”
A fan in the front row of the raised bleachers above Detroit’s bullpen caught Stanton’s 451-foot missile to left-center. “The guy made a great catch on it,” Stanton recalled, and he saw him after the game, giving him and his family some bats and balls in exchange for the keepsake.
The enormous videoboard flashed the 400th hit, and Stanton, who has been the subject of boos at Yankee Stadium since his arrival in 2018, came out for a curtain call, doffing his helmet to the crowd of 31,553.
“That was great,” Stanton replied. “It was awesome seeing all of my teammates, and they’re excited and having fun with it, and being able to go out for a curtain call was the cherry on top.”
Stanton, the 2017 NL MVP with Miami, became the 58th major league player to achieve 400 home runs, and the 10th with the Yankees.
“I didn’t have a number in mind when I first started playing this game, but it’s pretty cool to be here now and keep it going,” Stanton said.
Cole (13-4) was declared the winner after striking out seven batters in six innings of one-run ball and taking over the American League lead in ERA at 2.90. On a hot 87-degree night, three days before his 33rd birthday, the right-hander allowed eight singles but walked none while throwing 104 pitches.
“It was just so thick tonight,” Cole commented. “The humidity was incredible. Unfortunately, I led off the sixth inning with a triple and had to go to work from there.”
The six-time All-Star is vying for his first Cy Young Award, having finished second twice and in the top five three times previously. He won for the second time in a week and moved to 9-1 in 13 career starts against the Tigers, who had won four straight after a five-game losing streak.
In the first game of his final series at Yankee Stadium, Miguel Cabrera hit an RBI single against Cole. Cabrera, 40, wants to retire after this season after receiving gifts from the Yankees during a pregame ceremony on the field.
“It was awesome,” said Detroit catcher Jake Rogers. “It’s really cool to see what different teams get out of him.”
The Tigers’ Javier Báez broke out of a 0-for-14 rut with three hits. In the sixth inning, though, he struck out swinging with a runner on as Cole delivered a 98 mph fastball as his penultimate pitch.
Tommy Kahnle, Jonathan Loáisiga, and Clay Holmes pitched three scoreless innings of relief.
Joey Wentz (2-11) received the loss after walking Aaron Judge to lead off the sixth inning. Stanton hit a two-run home run with two outs in the eighth, and Torres followed with a two-run double.
“They walk and hit home runs, that’s what they do.” “And they took advantage of it today,” added Rogers.
Since April 30, 2021, Detroit has lost seven consecutive games at Yankee Stadium.
“We’re not going to be out of it until we’re out of it,” Stanton remarked.
New Kid On Planet Earth
In his Yankee Stadium debut, prized rookie Jasson Domnguez went 1 for 4 with an eighth-inning double for New York. When the Bleacher Creatures yelled his name during his first roll call, the 20-year-old center fielder, nicknamed The Martian for his incredible athletic prowess at such a young age when he signed, flashed a “E.T. phone home” sign as his salute.
“It’s from the movie,” Domnguez explained via translation.
He said he got the idea from “a combination of people,” admitting he’s never seen Steven Spielberg’s science-fiction masterpiece, which came out 21 years before he was born.
