BRONX, NY — Aaron Judge stands 6-foot-7, 282 pounds. Giancarlo Stanton is listed at 6-foot-6, 245.
Put one on the other’s shoulders and New York gets a new high-rise to its iconic skyline.
The Yankees’ Twin Powers make Blake Sabol — at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, San Francisco’s biggest position player — look miniature.
Judge and Stanton, as potent at the plate as they are imposing, closed down the Giants’ season-opening series with two monster home runs off Ross Stripling. The Yankees’s 6-0 victory handed the Giants their second loss in the first three games of the year.
In San Francisco’s two losses in New York, the Giants (1-1) got outscored 11-0. In those games, they struck out 28 times, adding up to the highest rate in baseball in the opening weekend.
The Giants began the weekend with 12 straight scoreless innings, including a 5-0 shutout loss to Gerrit Cole in the opener. A seven-run burst from the lineup was enough to overcome a shaky first and ninth inning — from Alex Cobb and Camilo Doval — on Saturday for San Francisco’s first win of 2023. Then came the rubber match.
Things lined up well for the Giants, who got to face rookie Jhony Brito in his big-league debut. They avoided Carlos Rodón, Frankie Montas and Luis Severino in the series due to injuries.
Brito had never stepped foot in Yankee Stadium before this weekend and ranked 27th on their prospect list. He had a strong spring and injuries provided him a chance when he expected to begin the year in Triple-A.
But Brito retired 10 straight Giants, including five consecutive strikeouts, and didn’t allow a Giant to advance into scoring position in his five scoreless frames.
And then in the third inning, Judge and Stanton did what they do best. Judge launched a homer to left and two batters later, Stanton blasted the most indubitable no-doubter of MLB’s opening weekend.
Stanton’s two-run bomb to straightaway center field left his bat at 117.8 mph and traveled 485 feet. It landed just below the pitch clock in the third deck. Rarely do balls away from Coors Field fly through the air like that.
Stanton grasped his bat in his right hand like it was a toothpick while walking slowly out of the batter’s box to admire his shot.
Judge had already homered in the first game and made a sliding grab in the second, finishing the series hitting .462.
Yankees backup catcher Kyle Higashioka added a solo homer to Stanton and Judge’s homers, matching Stripling’s career-high for home runs allowed in a start.
When the Giants threatened to score in the sixth, they brought up their most powerful hitters: Michael Conforto, J.D. Davis and Pederson. The first two struck out looking and Pederson flew out on two pitches, stranding two runners.
The Giants only put five runners on base all game, with three hits and two walks. They struck out 12 times.
The Giants will be able to produce runs this year. Just one day prior, they put up seven runs in a win in Yankee Stadium. They ranked 11th in runs per game last year and have a lineup of hitters one-through-nine that are capable of doing damage.
But not like Judge or Stanton.
Both former MVPs, hitting second and cleanup for the Yankees, remind the Giants of their lack of both superstar talent and generational power. Judge set the American League single-season record with 62 home runs last year. Stanton belted a MLB-high 59 in 2017 and has exceeded 30 thrice since.
No Giant has reached 30 home runs since Barry Bonds in 2004.
In 2017, the Marlins reportedly agreed to terms of a trade that would’ve sent Stanton to San Francisco. But the slugger declined to waive his no-trade clause and ended up in the Bronx — one of his preferred destinations.
Five years later, the Giants again weren’t in a prime enough position to land a superstar. They offered Judge a nine-year, $360 million contract to come back home to Northern California, but Judge valued playing for a perennial contender in New York — and a rare captainship — more than a homecoming.
To be in the running for the next superstar that becomes available, the Giants will need to prove that they can win — and sustain winning. To do that in the short-term, the club must put the ball in play more frequently.
