Win helps Giancarlo Stanton shake off strikeouts, boos

At least Giancarlo Stanton kept his sense of humor about the whole thing.

The newest Yankee superstar made his home debut on Tuesday and it was not the splash he and everyone else were hoping for. In fact, it was everything a hitter doesn’t want: five at-bats and five strikeouts. He brought levity to a postgame dialogue about it by pointing to Didi Gregorius’ eight-RBI performance batting behind him in the No. 4 spot.

“That’s what a cleanup hitter does: you clean up the garbage in front of you,” Stanton said after the Yanks 11-4 win over Tampa Bay.

Stanton struck out swinging four times and once on a called third strike. Rays starter Chris Archer got him looking at a 94 mph fastball in the third with two men on before Gregorius hit the first of his two three-run homers. Austin Pruitt beat him with a 92 mph fastball in the seventh before Gregorius’ second. He heard his first boos from the Stadium crowd after that one and they were much louder after Sergio Romo got him to miss on a 77 mph slider in the eighth.

“You put up a performance like that, you should get some boos,” Stanton conceded.

Gregorius knows too well about the scrutiny that can come with joining the Yankees from when he stepped in to replace the retired Derek Jeter at shortstop. He said “fans are always going to boo you, but it’s not because they hate you; they want you to do good.”

Though the home debut for an incoming star in New York can be fraught with pressure, Stanton said “it was just a bad day.”

Stanton’s five whiffs were a personal worst and he became the eighth player in franchise history to record a ‘platinum sombrero.’ The last three of those players – David Adams (2013), Mark Teixeira (2010) and Melky Cabrera (2007) – did it in six at-bats. The last Yankee to go 0-for-5 with five strikeouts was Andy Phillips in 2005. The other three were Bernie Williams in his rookie season of 1991 and a pair of pitchers before the advent of the DH, Stan Bahnsen (1968) and Johnny Broaca (1934).

“It’s not ideal, but we’ve got plenty more,” Stanton said.

The Yankees other big slugger, Aaron Judge went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and an RBI but had a tough moment in the field during the sixth inning when the Yankees were trying to protect a 4-1 lead. C.J. Cron’s long fly ball to right was catchable, but Judge didn’t run all the way to the wall to make the catch and it caromed off for a double to start a three-run Rays rally.

“It was just the first time back at home playing,” Judge said. “I’m trying to get used to that short porch again. That’s the biggest thing. Usually I’ve got a good awareness of where the wall is and I just didn’t right there.”

Manager Aaron Boone said of Stanton’s five whiffs against the backdrop of the 11-run output “I don’t even blink at it” and that “when you’re a big-time slugger like that, there will be days like that.” He added “there’s going to be a lot of days when we hop on his back.”

Stanton said that, aside from his results at the plate, he liked the atmosphere and passion of the fans playing his first game as a Yankee at the Stadium. He seemed grateful that those results didn’t affect the outcome.

“They didn’t need me tonight,” he said. “Not ideal for me, but the good thing is it’s not all about me. Didi did a good job tonight.”