{"id":287336,"date":"2021-06-30T10:05:36","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T07:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/why-this-gary-sanchez-home-run-was-so-important\/"},"modified":"2021-06-30T10:05:36","modified_gmt":"2021-06-30T07:05:36","slug":"why-this-gary-sanchez-home-run-was-so-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-this-gary-sanchez-home-run-was-so-important\/","title":{"rendered":"#Why this Gary Sanchez home run was so important"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Why this Gary Sanchez home run was so important<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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In the boxscore, it accounted for just one of three Yankees\u2019 home runs. One of six extra-base hits. One of a season-high 11 runs.<\/p>\n

No big deal. Unless you consider the circumstances.<\/p>\n

When Gary Sanchez drilled an opposite-field, two-out, solo home run against Angels\u2019 high-strikeout pitcher Andrew Heaney in the first inning of an eventual 11-5 win, the Yankees were losers of four straight and had just been called \u201cas bad as you can be\u201d by general<\/a> manager Brian Cashman. The small but restless Yankee Stadium crowd would\u2019ve booed at the first sign of negativity if the Yankees\u2019 bats stayed quiet yet again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was big,\u201d manager Aaron Boone said. \u201cHeaney gets the first two guys [out] and then Gary puts a really good swing on one. It looked like something soft backdoor that he stayed through and rode out of here \u2014 a no-doubter into the second deck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gary
Gary Sanchez flips his bat after belting a solo homer in the first inning of the Yankees\u2019 11-5 win over the Angels.<\/figcaption>
Bill Kostroun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sanchez\u2019s home run for a 1-0 lead allowed the Yankees to breathe easier on a 94-degree night at Yankee Stadium. It was the first time they scored first in a game<\/a> since Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been having trouble at times punching through in that first inning,\u201d Boone said, \u201cso to get one on one swing right there I think certainly laid some groundwork for the night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanchez isn\u2019t one of the three American League finalists at catcher on the All-Star ballot, but none of the others are as dangerous as he is right now. And the Yankees need the Sanchez of the last 28 games \u2014 hitting .311 with nine home runs, seven doubles and 21 RBIs \u2014 more than Sanchez needs a third All-Star selection on his r\u00e9sum\u00e9, even if MLB player ballots deem his hot streak worthy of a once-improbable spot as a reserve.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been a different team when we can score first,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cLike we say in the yard, \u2018When you score first, you are winning.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n