Yankees ALDS Game 3 Player of the Game: Giancarlo Stanton

It was far from a sweat-free affair, but the Yankees avoided a tough loss in Game 3 of the Division Series and take a 2-1 lead into Game 4. It was probably their biggest win of the year, and one of their biggest wins the league was the pioneer. Giancarlo Stanton came through when the Yankees needed him on Wednesday night and clearly stood out among the other players in pinstripes in Game 3.

Stanton went 3-for-5 with a double and a huge home run that proved to be the deciding factor, as well as a stolen base that I can assure you all had on my bingo card.

His first shot didn't matter much as the game was still scoreless. Stanton hit a 2-0 pitch from Seth Lugo and was thrown out in the middle of a 1-2-3 second inning. However, Lugo and Co. wouldn't be so lucky with his next chance. After taking a fastball up and in, Stanton punished a 114.1 mph sinker up the middle into the gap in left-center. It opened the scoring in Game 3 and gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning.

On his next at-bat in the sixth inning, he kept the momentum going with an excellent at-bat against Angel Zerpa. He dug a hole early and went 0-2, one pitch swinging and one looking. He continued hitting, taking a few balls and fouling off a back-foot slider before placing an outside sinker up the middle for a base hit. It left the bat at 97.2 mph and Big G followed it with one rarely stolen base, his first since 2020. The Yankees couldn't do anything with Stanton's blistering speed on the bags in the sixth.

Despite the early production, the best was yet to come for Stanton in Game 3. Although New York had previously taken the lead with its double, a Royals turnover in the fifth ensured that this game ended with two players tied for much of the later stages of the game. Luckily for the Bombers, Stanton continued to see the ball well on his next chance in the top of the eighth. He had a good hit rate, had two close throws and a bouncer and fouled a slider by Kris Bubic. With the score 3-1, Stanton reached down and hit a low slider, sending a moon shot into the left field seats.

It was another missile that launched Stanton's bat at a speed of 112.9 miles per hour and a launch angle of 35 degrees. It was the biggest hit of the game and perhaps one of the most impactful of the season, increasing the Yankees' win probability in Game 3 by 27.7 percent. And it would prove to be the decisive setback in a huge victory for the Yankees.

Stanton couldn't put a stop to his big day in his fifth and final plate appearance, ending up in foul territory after a hard called strike. Luckily, he had already done the necessary damage to the Yankees in Game 3. He hit two of their three runs and provided both go-ahead shots, one of which came via the moonshot variation.

All told, Giancarlo Stanton accounted for 41.1 percent of the Yankees' additional win probability (via Baseball Savant), and it couldn't have come at a better time. They say the biggest pitch of an at-bat is the 1-1 pitch, so winning Game 3 of the ALDS after splitting the first two must be a good thing. The Yanks have a chance to wrap up the series on Thursday in Kansas City.