Stanton's 2 big homers not enough to power Yankees in Game 2

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton's second homer Tuesday night left his bat at 118 mph with a ferocious crack. Players on both teams gaped in awe from the dugouts while the three-run shot rocketed a projected 458 feet to the empty patio atop the highest level of outfield seats at Petco Park.

For the first time in his three seasons with New York, the Yankees' big-money slugger is putting on a fantastic power display in the postseason. Stanton has homered in every one of New York’s four postseason games to tie a franchise feat previously accomplished by only Lou Gehrig and Reggie Jackson.

After hitting a grand slam in the opener, Stanton launched two more long balls in Game 2 of the AL Division Series against Tampa Bay, including that massive fourth-inning homer to the highest, deepest reaches of San Diego's ballpark.

The sound was unbelievable in person, and the sight of Stanton's efficient, coiled swing was even more impressive.

But as beautiful as it all was, Stanton's power wasn't enough to stop the Rays from tying the best-of-five series with a 7-5 victory Tuesday night.

Although Stanton became the first Yankees player to homer in four consecutive playoff games in the same postseason, his homers accounted for 40% of the Bronx Bombers' hits against Tyler Glasnow and the Tampa Bay bullpen.

New York's powerhouse lineup struck out a team-record 18 times, also setting a major league mark for strikeouts in a nine-inning postseason game.

After scoring 31 runs and hitting 11 homers to set two big league records for a team's first three playoff games, that feasting lineup went through a famine. The plate discipline that served New York so well in Game 1 wasn't nearly so much in evidence in the rematch.

That's why Stanton likely won't find many positives in his first...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Stanton-s-2-big-homers-not-enough-to-power-15626876.php