Inside The Pinstripes

Giancarlo Stanton Blasts Two Home Runs, Powering Yankees Past Twins

New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton hit two home runs, powering the Yankees to a second straight win over the Minnesota Twins at Target Field

Max Goodman

Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

MINNEAPOLIS — In his first eight games since returning from the injured list last month, Giancarlo Stanton couldn't buy a hit. 

The slugger was hitting .083 (2-for-24) with 12 strikeouts since the left quad injury, often looking lost in the batter's box. 

This week in Minneapolis, however, it's been a completely different story for Stanton at the plate. After two hits on Tuesday night, Stanton erupted with two booming home runs, powering the Yankees to another offensive outburst at Target Field. 

Starting the day with a 118.3-mph double into the left-field corner, the cleanup hitter proceeded to leave the yard in each of his next two at-bats. A towering three-run blast came in the top of the third, soaring 423 feet to center field. Then, an opposite-field shot in the fifth brought home two more runs, more than enough insurance in a 9-6 win over the Twins. 

Both long balls came off Minnesota's right-hander Randy Dobnak and were clobbered in 0-2 counts. Dobnak was roughed up for eight earned runs on 11 hits, struggling to put New York's hitters away over 4.2 rocky innings.

Stanton finished the night 3-for-5, reaching base for a fourth time in the top of the ninth on an error. Stanton hadn't recorded two home runs, or three hits, since his historic 12-game hitting streak, stretching from late-April into early-May.

Stanton wasn't the only Yankee to leave the yard on Wednesday night. Aaron Judge mashed a solo shot in the first inning to get the scoring started while Miguel Andújar struck his fifth home run in his last eight games a few batters after Stanton in the fifth.

With plenty of run support to work with, Gerrit Cole was cruising on the mound. The ace punched out nine, allowing just two runs over six sparkling frames. Those two runs came on solo home runs from Jorge Polanco and Miguel Sano, two of Cole's five hits allowed. 

The victory is the right-hander's seventh of the season, dropping his ERA down to 2.31 on the season. 

New York entered play this series losers of 10 of their last 13, looking lifeless on offense. Now, they've poured in 17 runs on 29 hits in two games against the lowly Twins, looking to build some momentum in the early stages of an eight-game road trip.

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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