OAKLAND — Giancarlo Stanton didn’t want to look too far into the future, even if it’s just perhaps a matter of days.
What did the New York Yankees slugger think of the fact the team’s magic number to win the American League East had fallen to three games, meaning that they could accomplish the feat as early as Tuesday?
“We’re in a great spot,” he told reporters after a 10-0 drubbing of the Oakland Athletics at the Coliseum on Saturday night. “Think the number is three now. So we’ve still got work to do. But we’re good for where we are.”
Stanton was a major reason the Yankees are in this position. His three-run home run in the third inning expanded the Yankees’ cushion to 6-0 as they cruised. Starting pitcher Carlos Rodón pitched six innings with four strikeouts, a walk and five hits.
The Yankees also got solo homers from Anthony Volpe and Aaron Judge, who has an MLB-high 54. A day after being a late scratch from the lineup due to a swollen left knee, star right fielder Juan Soto supplied two hits and scored twice.
The Yankees lead the second-place Baltimore Orioles by five games with just seven remaining. New York will look to sweep the A’s on Sunday afternoon before beginning three games with Baltimore at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. The Yankees are off Monday.
The Yankees didn’t make the playoffs last year and finished fourth in the division. They won the AL East in 2022 but were bounced in the American League Championship Series by the Houston Astros in a four-game sweep.
“Obviously, we’ve put ourselves in a good position to do (win the division), but it’s not done,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ve got a chance to have a really great West Coast trip. We can’t win a division tomorrow. We’ve just got to keep racking up wins when we can and hopefully that will get us to where we want to go.”
“I think first things first,” Rodón said. “Tomorrow we go out there and win a baseball game. There’s going to be an exciting series coming up in the Bronx.”
The biggest key so far? The Yankees might be the healthiest they’ve been all season. None of their main stars are on the injured list.
“It’s huge,” Stanton said. “Health is everything, and to be rocking on all cylinders and for everyone to be healthy, that’s important, especially at the biggest time of the year.”
Boone notches 600
Boone said he didn’t realize he was at 599 wins going into Saturday, and that Lou Cucuzza Sr. — the team’s visiting clubhouse manager — reminded him when he handed him the game ball following the final out.
The 51-year-old became the seventh manager in Yankees history to reach 600 wins, joining Joe McCarthy (1,460), Joe Torre (1,173), Casey Stengel (1,149), Miller Huggins (1,067), Ralph Houk (944) and Joe Girardi (910).
Before addressing his 600th managerial win postgame Saturday, Aaron Boone talked with @M_Marakovits & the media about the Yankees’ shutout victory in Oakland, playing with the postseason on the horizon, & more. #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/65RQJfofgB
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) September 22, 2024
Going into Saturday, the Yankees had posted the third-highest winning percentage in the majors (.585) since Boone took over in 2018.
“Look,” Boone said, “(it’s) the result of a lot of really good teams, and a lot of really good players and the opportunity to do it for an extended period of time. That’s a result of a lot of us, allowing us to get to a number like that.”
He added, “I’m proud of the work and the effort we put in. We’re all chasing that thing of we want to get to the top of the mountain, and that’s what it’s about. That’s why I came into this and why I’m still here trying to do that. That’s the goal. … That said, I’m proud of all the people that I’ve got to work with and what we’ve done and what we’ve put into it. But ultimately we’re chasing that title.”
(Photo of Giancarlo Stanton: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
