Stanton Becomes The Fifth Fastest To Hit 300 Homers
August 31, 2018 in Sports News
New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton joined the 300-home run club, hitting a two-run shot in the third inning against the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night.
Stanton, who ended a 10-game homerless drought, sent a 3-1 pitch into the right-field seats off of Tigers starter Francisco Liriano. The blast was Stanton’s 33rd of the season.
The milestone homer came in Stanton’s 1,119th career game, making last year’s home run champ and RBI leader the fifth-fastest to reach 300 homers as only Alex Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, Ryan Howard and Ralph Kiner have reached the mark faster.
Stanton reached the mark despite the fact that recently he’s been nursing a tight hamstring, relegating him to designated hitter duty.
Stanton, 28, also becomes the ninth-youngest slugger to reach the mark. He’s also one of three players to hit at least 25 homers in each of his last five seasons and is one of two to hit at least 20 dingers in each of the last nine campaigns proving that he’s a force at the plate.
Stanton, who won the 2017 National League MVP award, has made five All-Star game appearances. He spent his first eight seasons with the Miami Marlins, where he was crowned as the N.L home run leader in 2014 and 2017 and won two Silver Sluggers (also in 2014 and 2017).
The Puerto Rican started his 2018 campaign with a bang as he hit two home runs in his debut with the Yankees, including on his first at-bat, on Opening Day.