With a single swing – and the look and silence that followed – Giancarlo Stanton breathed a sigh of relief at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees slugger had been booed since the opening day and again in the first half on Monday, as he ran out of shots for a crime that also started at a slow start. But by the fifth inning, he had allayed those concerns as quickly as the 471-meter moon reached the terrace in the center-left field.
Stanton turned the boos into laughter from the crowd of 9,008 when he smashed a grand slam to open the game and send the Yankees to a 0-0 win over the Orioles on Monday night.
Jordan Montgomery was sharp, throwing six innings with seven shots, trimming a line of orioles that came from a shot by the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees pitching staff was solid in the first three games, but had only one victory to show for it due to lack of support for running.
The big bats eventually began to erupt, however, with Stanton leading the charge and Aaron Judge adding his first home round of the season – after Gary Sanchez had been responsible for the Yankees’ only two long balls in the first three games.
Stanton’s outburst came with two outings in the fifth inning, getting his start from 0 to 10. Aaron Hicks, who was in his own 1-for-14 routine to start the season, just drew a walk full of bases. to make it 2-0 for the Yankees. Stanton then took a 92 mph fast ball in the middle from Shawn Armstrong and started it, no doubt leaving a 115.1 mph rocket that he watched as he flew into the stands for the 6-0 lead. .
After starting the 4-for-24 season with runners in the scoring position, the Yankees left 3-for-5 months, including an RBI single from DJ LeMahieu to take a 7-0 lead in the sixth half.
Manager Aaron Boone said he didn’t want the Yankees to chase shots because of the cold start and they seemed to force themselves, staying patient and taking seven walks.
It turned out that Judge’s home round in the fourth, which landed on the short porch in the right field for a 1-0 lead, would have been enough for Montgomery. The left-hander was dominant and efficient in his first start of the year, needing only 73 pitches to go through six innings. A single hitter reached third base with two outs in the fifth, but Montgomery calmly blocked it.
Luis Cessa followed with two closing innings, and Aroldis Chapman, who made his debut after a two-game suspension, hit the side in the ninth.