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 the Yankees take a 2-1 lead in the American League Division Series.

Stanton also elevated himself into an exclusive category for postseason hits with the franchise’s most iconic player. Stanton’s solo home run in the eighth inning, which gave the Yankees a 3–2 lead, marked 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 ratio at 8.6. Stanton and Ruth are the only two players with a ratio lower than 10.

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New York Yankees design hitter Giancarlo Stanton (27) singles in the sixth inning against the Kansas City Royals during game three of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Kauffman Stadium. (Jay Biggerstaff – Image Images)

“They’re the biggest moments, you have to be ready for it, you have to want it,” Stanton said after the game about how he has hit so well in the playoffs. “You won’t always be successful, but you can’t be shocked in the big moments.”

However, all of Ruth’s postseason homers came in the World Series, as it was the only postseason series when he played in the 1920s and 1930s. All of Stanton’s postseason home runs have come in earlier rounds, as the Yankees have not yet reached the World Series with him on the team.

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Giancarlo Stanton #27 of the New York Yankees looks on 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 RBIs per run scored and even a rare stolen base. When Stanton stole second base in the sixth inning, it marked his first stolen base of the season and his first since August 2020.

“He didn’t hold me and he was slow at the plate,” Stanton said of how he stole the base from Royals pitcher John Schreiber.

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

Now, with a 2-1 series lead, the Yankees are just one win away from eliminating Kansas City and reaching the American League Championship Series.

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New York ace pitcher Gerrit Cole will take the mound in Game 4 on Thursday, as the Yankees will try to close out the series without having to return home to play Game 5.

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

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