Yankees: Giancarlo Stanton Laser Caps Yankees Rally in Fifth

Yankees DH Giancarlo Stanton is having a very impressive Opening Day against Max Scherzer.

The ESPN broadcast is unable to do him justice, but Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton is having one hell of an Opening Day.

Just four innings after he christened this game with a monster mash into deep left-center, Stanton encountered a bases-loaded situation in the fifth, with Mad Max Scherzer on the verge of escaping serious trouble.

After putting two runners on without recording an out (a Gio Urshela walk was followed by a Tyler Wade infield bunt single, continuing his impressive 2020 renaissance), Aaron Hicks banged into a fielder’s choice, and Aaron Judge took a low slider down the middle for a called strike three.

But Gleyber Torres was up to the challenge, and held off on a 3-0 green light to take a bases loaded walk. That left it up to Stanton again, who was challenged by a Scherzer fastball and did not go quietly into that good night. Just as the broadcast instructed, he took a Stantonian laser into right field for a hard-hit RBI single.

The cameras…well, they didn’t fully capture the ball’s flight, as several ESPN cameramen were evacuated from the premises due to a lightning warning, which doesn’t bode super well for this game’s full completion.

The speedier the better, fellas, but all the tack-on runs are appreciated.

Unfortunately, a Brett Gardner whiff ended this inning on the very next batter, but the damage was done effectively.

Every time you can put the first two batters of an inning on base against Scherzer, with the top of the lineup coming to the plate, you simply have to capitalize. An empty inning would’ve been a glaring wasted chance. Instead, Stanton — seeming every bit of a new man early in 2020 — went with the pitch, instead of selling out for power.

He already proved he still has that covered in the first inning, too. No need to brag.