Giancarlo Stanton joins Babe Ruth on the epic playoff list to lift the Yankees over the Royals in ALDS Game 3

Giancarlo Stanton has established himself as one of the New York Yankees’ best postseason hitters in modern history. With a game-winning home run against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night, Stanton helped give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the American League Division Series.

With the franchise’s most famous player, Stanton also moved into an exclusive postseason hit category. Stanton’s solo home run in the eighth inning, which gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead, was his 12th career postseason home run in just 108 at-bats. That gave Stanton a postseason at-bat-per-home run ratio of 9.4. It’s the second-best in MLB history, just behind Yankees legend Babe Ruth, who has the best odds at 8.6. Stanton and Ruth are the only two players with a ratio less than 10.

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New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (27) hits a single in the sixth inning against the Kansas City Royals in Game 3 of the 2024 NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Kauffman Stadium. (Jay Biggerstaff – Imagn Images)

“It’s the biggest moments, you have to be prepared for it, you have to want it,” Stanton said after the game about how well he did in the playoffs. “You won’t always be successful, but you can’t allow yourself to be shocked in the big moments.”

However, all of Ruth’s postseason home runs came in the World Series, as that was the only postseason series when he played in the 1920s and ’30s. All of Stanton’s postseason home runs came in earlier rounds, as the Yankees have yet to reach the World Series with him on the team.

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Giancarlo Stanton #27 of the New York Yankees watches during Game 1 of the ALCS between the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday, October 9, 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Logan Riely/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Stanton finished the game with three hits, two RBI per run scored and even a rare stolen base. When Stanton stole second base in the sixth inning, it was his first stolen base of the season and first since August 2020.

“He didn’t hold me and was slow to get to the plate,” Stanton said of stealing the base from Royals pitcher John Schreiber.

Meanwhile, Aaron Judge, a star slugger for the Yankees and captain, finished the game 0-for-4 with one strikeout, dropping his batting average to .091 after the 2024 season. At 34.3%, Judge now has the worst strikeout rate in MLB postseason history.

With a 2-1 series lead, the Yankees are now just one win away from eliminating Kansas City and advancing to the American League Championship Series.

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New York’s top pitcher Gerrit Cole will get the win in Game 4 on Thursday as the Yankees will look to close out the series without having to return home to play Game 5.

If the Yankees actually win on Thursday, they will have home field advantage in the championship series for the first time since 2012.

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