It was far from a sweat-free affair, but the Yankees avoided a grueling loss in Game 3 of the Division Series and head into Game 4 with a 2-1 series lead. It was probably the biggest win of the year, and it was one of the biggest players in the league leading the way. Giancarlo Stanton came through when the Yankees needed him on Wednesday night, easily standing out above the rest of those in pinstripes during Game 3.

Stanton went 3-for-5 with a double and a huge homer, which proved to be the deciding factor, as well as a stolen base, which I can assure you all I had on my bingo card.

His first at bat wasn’t of much significance, with the game still scoreless, Stanton hit a 2-0 pitch from Seth Lugo and was thrown out in the middle of a 1-2-3 second inning. However, Lugo and company would not be so lucky on his next chance. After taking a fastball up and in, Stanton punished a 110-mph sinker into the left-center hole. It opened the score in Game 3 and gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning.

He kept the momentum rolling in his next at-bat in the sixth inning, putting together an excellent at-bat against Angel Zerpa. He dug a hole early and went down 0-2, one pitch swinging and one looking. He continued the at-bat by taking a few balls and an error on a back foot slider before hitting an outside lead up the middle for a single. It left the bat at 90 miles per hour, and Big G followed with one rare stolen base, his first since 2020. The Yankees couldn’t make anything of Stanton’s blazing speed on the bags in the sixth.

Despite the early production, the best was yet to come for Stanton in Game 3. Although his double had earlier given New York the lead, a rally in the fifth by the Royals kept this contest alive for much of the later stages of the game remained at two points each. Fortunately for the Bombers, Stanton continued to see the ball well on his next opportunity in the top of the eighth. He got into a good hitter, took two close pitches and a bouncer, and made an error on a slider by Kris Bubic. With the count 3-1, Stanton reached down and teed off on a low slider, firing a moon shot into the left field seats.

It was another rocket, leaving Stanton’s bat at 110 mph, with a launch angle of 35 degrees. It was the biggest hit of the game, and perhaps one of the most impactful of the season, adding 27.7 percent to the Yankees’ odds of winning in Game 3. And it would prove to be the decisive blow in a huge victory for the Yankees.

Stanton was unable to take a bow on his big day during his fifth and final plate appearance, fouling out on a hard called strike. Fortunately, he had already done all the damage the Yankees needed in Game 3. He drove in two of their three runs and provided both starts, one of which came via the moonshot variation.

All told, Giancarlo Stanton was responsible for 41.1 percent of the Yankees’ added win probability (via Baseball Savant), and it couldn’t have come at a better time. They say the biggest pitch of an at-bat is the 1-1 pitch, so winning Game 3 of the ALDS after splitting the first two has to be a good thing. The Yanks will have a chance to wrap up the series in Kansas City on Thursday.