With a stroke – and the stare and the stick that followed – Giancarlo Stanton gave a great sigh of relief at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees hitter was booed already on Opening Day and again in the first inning on Monday, as he remained without batting due to an attack that also had a slow start. But on the fifth entry, he eased those concerns as quickly as his 471-foot lunar shot hit the terrace in the center’s left field.
Stanton turned boos into roars from the crowd of 9,008 people when he hit a grand slam to open the game and send the Yankees to a 7-0 victory over Orioles on Monday night.
Jordan Montgomery was sharp, launching six shutout innings with seven strikeouts, taking down an Orioles lineup that came from a Red Sox sweep in Boston. The Yankees’ pitching team had been solid in the first three games, but had only one victory to show because of the lack of support in the race.
The big bats finally started to emerge, with Stanton leading the charge and Aaron Judge adding his first home run of the season – after Gary Sanchez was responsible for the Yankees’ two long balls in the first three games.
The Stanton blast came with two eliminations in the fifth inning, breaking his 0-0 start. Aaron Hicks, who was in his own 1 in 14 routine at the start of the season, had just taken a grounded walk to reach 2 to 0 advantage of the Yankees. Stanton then picked up a 92 mph fastball in the middle of Shawn Armstrong and started it without a doubt with a 115.1 mph missile that he looked at as he flew into the stands for the 6-0 lead.
After starting season 4 of 24 with runners in the scoring position, the Yankees went 3 out of 5 on Monday, including an RBI single from DJ LeMahieu to increase the lead to 7-0 in the sixth inning.
Coach Aaron Boone said he did not want the Yankees to chase after the cold start and they seemed to please, maintaining patience and making seven walks.
It turned out that Judge’s solo home run in the fourth, which reached the small entry into the right field for a 1-0 lead, would have been enough for Montgomery. The southpaw was dominant and efficient in his first start of the year, needing only 73 breeze throws in six innings. Only one hitter reached third base, with two eliminations in the fifth, but Montgomery calmly stranded him there.
Luis Cessa followed with two shutout entries and Aroldis Chapman, who made his debut after serving a two-game suspension, eliminated the team in ninth.