Giancarlo Stanton finds familiar playoff form as Yankees take 2-1 ALDS lead over Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Hours before Game 3 of the ALDS, Giancarlo Stanton took the field at Kauffman Stadium for some early batting practice.

With assistant Yankees hitting coach Casey Dykes feeding balls through a pitching machine and lead hitting coach James Rowson watching, Stanton repeatedly sprayed heaters across the outfield. With just one hit over eight at-bats in the first two games of the tied series, the designated hitter made the most of some extra reps.

That work paid off for Stanton, as his bat produced a 417-foot, solo home run in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game. The go-ahead blast proved decisive, as the Yankees won, 3-2, and took a 2-1 series lead.

As Stanton teed off on the Royals’ Kris Bubic, he stopped to admire the 12th postseason homer of his career before rounding the bases.

Stanton contributed more than just that dinger, as the Yankees scored their first run when he doubled off the center-field wall in the fourth inning. The slugger pumped his fist as he made it to second, as a poor relay throw from Bobby Witt Jr. allowed Juan Soto to score from first.

Stanton, known as much for his slow speed as his powerful bat in recent years, even added a surprising stolen base to his 3-for-5 night in the sixth inning. It was his first since 2020.

Earlier in the game, Clarke Schmidt cruised for most of his first-career playoff start. The righty permitted just one hit while holding the Royals scoreless for the first four innings, but his evening took a turn with two outs in the fifth.

Trouble began when Adam Frazier hit a soft single toward shortstop. Anthony Volpe, playing behind second base, made a backhanded play on the ball, but he sailed a throw to first as Frazier reached safely.

Kyle Isbel followed up with an RBI double the other way to left, putting the Royals on the board. Michael Massey then tripled when Soto laid out for a line drive off the second baseman’s bat. The ball got past Soto and rolled to the wall as the Royals tied the game and sent Schmidt to the showers.

He ended the night with 4 2/3 innings pitched, four hits, two earned runs, one walk, four strikeouts and 71 pitches.

Back on offense, the Yankees picked up a run in the fifth frame when some station-to-station movement led to a sac fly for Soto.

The Yanks’ first two runs came off Seth Lugo. The Royals’ righty totaled two hits, four walks, two strikeouts and 87 pitches after carving the Yankees up at Yankee Stadium a month ago.

The Yankees could have potentially scored in the third inning as well, as Gleyber Torres blooped a ball down the right-field line with Oswaldo Cabrera on first. The ball looked like it landed on the foul line, thus indicating a fair ball. However, the right-field umpire called it foul, a ruling that stood after the Yankees challenged.

On the game’s TBS broadcast, a few limited replay angles appeared to confirm that the ball was fair, but Torres ultimately flew out to deep right to end the inning.

Another call didn’t go the Yankees’ way in the seventh when Aaron Judge struck out on a check swing. Once again, replay sparked some disagreement, but the inning ended there with Soto stranded on first.

Judge, meanwhile, ended up going 0 for 4 with a walk despite some solid contact earlier in the game. He is now 1 for 11 in the series.

Luke Weaver was asked to record a five-out save and the right-hander did so successfully, pitching 1 2/3 innings and allowing zero runs on two hits.

While calls didn’t work out for the Yankees, they managed to take a 2-1 series lead over the Royals. The Bombers now have a chance to advance to the ALCS with a win on Thursday in Kansas City.

Gerrit Cole will take the ball for the Yanks in that pivotal contest. The ace wasn’t particularly sharp in Game 1, surrendering four runs (3 earned) and 11 hard-hit balls over five innings. Still, the Yankees won that game in the Bronx.

Michael Wacha will also start Game 4 after opposing Cole in Game 1. The fellow righty lasted only four innings in the series opener, as he gave up three earned runs.