Giancarlo Stanton homers vs. Guardians in ALCS Game 5 2024

CLEVELAND — At this point, the only way to contain Giancarlo Stanton is to hold up four fingers.

Stanton launched his third home run in as many games and fourth of the ALCS Saturday night in Game 5, a 446-foot rocket to left field to tie the game at 2 in the sixth. He’s giving the Guardians nightmares, but this is nothing new.

Stanton has eight career hits against the Guardians’ franchise over his incredible postseason career and all eight are home runs. Of the 38 players with five or more home runs against a single playoff opponent in MLB history, Stanton is the only one to have all of them be home runs. The next-longest streak is Jim Thome, who hit five against the Red Sox from 1995-’99.

Manager Aaron Boone decided to bump Stanton up into the cleanup spot for Game 5, a spot that’s rotated between him, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells this series. Boone didn’t have a grand realization about Saturday’s matchup, calling it only “what I felt last night.” Well, it’s working.

“He can hit it harder than anyone, first of all,” Boone said of Stanton prior to Game 5. “So there’s the physical nature of what he does that’s different than just about everyone in the world. But he’s just incredibly disciplined, his approach, his process, how he studies guys.”

Stanton’s home run came against Tanner Bibee, who was fantastic for 5 2/3 innings before Stanton’s big blast ended his night in an instant. Bibee’s performance allowed Guardians manager Stephen Vogt to push him deep into the game and be more selective with a bullpen that’s gassed, but Stanton has the power to change a game — and the best laid plans — just like that.

Scary as it sounds, Boone and the Yankees feel like Stanton will only get better as the postseason wears on, especially within a series with heavy bullpen usage.

“One thing we’ve talked about a lot over the years is one thing we noticed even early on in the first couple years with the Yankees,” Boone explained. “One of the things we noticed, like upstairs studied a little bit, he more than most, when he sees pitchers over and over, really benefits. So I think he processes … when he faces people. He’s shown in his career that he benefits just about more than anyone.”

On top of Stanton’s 429 career home runs in the regular season, he now has 16 in the postseason … and counting. That’s the most homers by a player in their first 36 career postseason games, and it moves him into sole possession of fourth place in Yankees postseason history.

Bernie Williams: 22
Derek Jeter: 20
Mickey Mantle: 18
Giancarlo Stanton: 16
Babe Ruth: 15
Aaron Judge: 15