Giancarlo Stanton sees dead red when the Red Sox are around.
The Yankees’ slugger hammered his second home run of the two-game old season Saturday off Red Sox right-hander Nick Pivetta in the Bombers’ 4-2 win at Yankee Stadium.
Stanton and Anthony Rizzo homered off Pivetta Saturday. They’ve both hit home runs in both games of this young season. They are the first pair of Yankee teammates to homer in both of the first two games of the season and only the ninth pair of teammates to do it in the Modern Era.
“Riz is in a good spot right now,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Good to see him in a good place with his mechanics and swing. I know he feels really good so that’s nice.
“G had a lot of good at-bats tonight. Ahead of the home run, he smoked balls on the ground his first couple of times and got one like G gets it for the homer,” the Yankee manager said of Stanton’s 437-foot homer. “I mean it’s good to see the big boys doing some damage.”
It was the first time in his career that Rizzo had homered in the first two games of the season.
“Awesome,” Stanton said of Rizzo’s at-bats so far this season. “I got one of the best seats in the house for them, I’m on deck. So it’s fun to watch.”
This is the second time in Stanton’s career that he’s homered in the first two games, and the sixth straight game dating back to last season he has homered against the Red Sox. He’s the only player in major league history to have homered in six straight games against the Red Sox, beating Jim Thome, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mickey Mantle’s record of five.
Stanton shrugged off the rivalry angle and said he’s done his homework on the Red Sox pitchers. And when it counted — in the American League Wild Card Game — it didn’t matter.
“We didn’t execute the most important one last year, I know that,” Stanton said of his success against the Red Sox. “We had two fortunate ones to help us win this year and just gotta keep it going.”
Stanton also played right field Saturday, something he said helps him keep in the rhythm of the game. Since overcoming injuries in 2019 and 2020, he’s been used in the field more to help keep a flexible lineup. It’s something he hopes to do a couple times a week this year.
“I can’t tell you why I hit them when I’m playing outfield or I am DH-ing. Just a different rhythm to the game,” Stanton said. “I gotta be able to master both of them because I’m gonna do both so that’s what it really matters.”
Either way, Boone sees a complete hitter with extraordinary power in the heart of his lineup.
“We’re talking about just a great hitter and a great power hitter. He’s in a pretty locked-in place and when G gets locked-in, that’s what happens,” Boone said. “So finishing last year on a high note like he was now coming off what I thought was a really meaningful and purposeful spring for him into the season. Again, I just think he’s in a really good mental, physical space. And that can be the result of the great player being locked in.”
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