Giancarlo Stanton hits 400th career home run, Gerrit Cole gets 13th win as Yankees beat Tigers
Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees celebrates his sixth-inning two-run home run against the Tigers at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Giancarlo Stanton, who was booed after striking out in his first two at-bats on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, hit his 400th career home run and received a curtain call in the Yankees’ 5-1 victory over the Tigers.
Stanton connected on a tie-breaking, 451-foot, two-run home run into the leftfield bleachers in the sixth inning off righthander Jose Cisnero.
Stanton became the 58th player to hit 400 home runs and the fourth quickest in terms of games played.
By homering in his 1,520th game, Stanton trails only Mark McGwire (1,412), Babe Ruth (1,475) and Alex Rodriguez (1,489).
“It’s a pretty cool feat,” Stanton said. “I didn’t have a number in mind when I first started in this game. But it’s pretty cool.”
Stanton has not been a home fan favorite during a difficult season. After going 1-for-4 with three strikeouts on Tuesday, the 33-year-old is batting .205 with 22 home runs, 55 RBIs and a .729 OPS.
But the crowd of 31,533 showed its appreciation by giving Stanton a standing ovation after his home run. Stanton obliged by popping out of the dugout, waving his batting helmet, and saying “thank you” to the crowd.
“That was great,” Stanton said. “It was awesome seeing all my teammates when they’re excited and having fun with it and then being able to go out for the curtain call.”
Stanton’s blast allowed Gerrit Cole to pick up the victory after the AL Cy Young Award favorite gave up one run in six innings.
Cole (13-4, 2.90 ERA) would not have come back out for the seventh as he had already thrown 104 pitches on a hot night. Cole allowed eight hits and struck out seven.
The Yankees (69-69), who reached .500 for the first time since they were 60-60 on Aug. 15, have won four in a row and seven of eight. They moved to within 7 ½ games of Texas, which held the third AL wild-card spot going into the day.
Can the Yankees make a highly improbable run with 24 games left?
“Definitely,” Stanton said. “That’s our only option at the moment.”
DJ LeMahieu gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead with a leadoff homer in the first. The Tigers tied it in the sixth on a triple by Kerry Carpenter and RBI single to right by Miguel Cabrera. The Yankees honored the retiring Cabrera before the game.
Gleyber Torres added a two-run double in the eighth. Rookie Jasson Dominguez went 1-for-4 with a double in his first home game.
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
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