Nobody has power like Giancarlo Stanton. The New York Yankees’ slugger reminded the baseball world of that on the big stage Wednesday night during the AL Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium.
In the bottom of the eighth, Stanton absolutely destroyed a pitch from Oakland’s star closer, Blake Treinen. In the regular season, Treinen allowed just two homers in 80 1/3, with a ridiculous 0.78 ERA. But this pitch stayed up in the zone and Stanton made him pay.
Watch this mammoth blast down the left field line:
That homer had an exit velocity of 117.4 mph and went 443 feet, which is very, very difficult to do down the line. The 117.4 mph homer is the highest exit velocity tracked in a postseason game in the Statcast era.
The second-highest exit velocity for a homer in a postseason game? That came in the first inning on a 116.1 mph two-run homer from Aaron Judge.
Opener vs. Opening Statement. #AllRise pic.twitter.com/34nblKbCfJ
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 4, 2018
The Yankees won the game 7-2, and that means they will face the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS. That’s one heck of a first-round playoff series.
