BOSTON – Giancarlo Stanton has always seemed to enjoy hitting at Fenway Park, where the unique field dimensions provide an inviting target. It’s a perfect match for the slugger and his high-velocity swing, which is also one of a kind.
Stanton continued his track record of impactful performances in baseball’s oldest ballpark on Tuesday evening, clipping a light tower with a long homer and drilling the Green Monster with a two-run double in the Yankees’ 4-0 victory over the Red Sox.
The designated hitter entered play hitless in 17 at-bats this season against left-handed pitching, but he corrected that against Connelly Early, clipping a second-inning slider toward Lansdowne Street. The ball rocketed off Stanton’s bat at 111.5 mph.
Early held the Yanks off the board again until the sixth, when Stanton got him again – this time, belting a changeup to left-center field that swelled the lead by chasing home Amed Rosario and Aaron Judge.
The Red Sox have struggled to generate offense all year, a trend that continued against Luis Gil, who completed 6 1/3 scoreless innings in his third start of the season.
That success is also nothing new for Gil, who entered Tuesday with an 0.99 ERA (three earned runs in 27 1/3 innings) across five career starts vs. Boston.
Gil generated just three swings and misses while seeing his velocity dip from its season averages. But he limited the Sox to two hits, issuing three walks with two strikeouts – including a five-pitch sixth inning that allowed him to push deeper into the game.
Randal Grichuk added a run-scoring double in the eighth, his second RBI as a Yankee.