LOS ANGELES (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton has been coming to Dodger Stadium since he was a child. It seems like every time he comes back he sends a special souvenir to the outfield seats.

The start of this Yankees-Dodgers World Series was no exception.

Stanton hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to give New York the lead, his latest big win for a Yankees team hoping for the franchise’s 28th title. There wasn’t enough in one 6-3, 10-inning thriller a loss to Los Angeles on Friday night that Freddie Freeman ended with a two-out walk-off grand slam.

“You never want this ending,” Stanton said long after the game in a nearly empty Yankees clubhouse. “You have to win four anyway. Nobody said it would be easy.”

Reviled by Yankees fans for much of his time in the Bronx, Stanton hit a home run in his fourth straight postseason game, a 116.6 mph shot off an ankle curve by Jack Flaherty at the knees that was the hardest hit Ball has been in the World Series since MLB began pursuing it in 2015.

His six home runs and 13 RBIs both lead the Yankees this postseason, and his 17 career postseason home runs in 135 at-bats are among the best percentages in baseball history. He is the only player to hit a home run twice in four straight postseason games.

“He’s a killer,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said earlier this month. “I just admire how well he can focus in those big moments and go to a different place mentally.”

Throughout October, Stanton’s determination was evident.

“That’s not the trophy I want,” he said after receiving the AL Championship Series MVP award Saturday night. “I want the next one.”

Stanton was born in Panorama City, California and grew up about 15 miles north of Dodger Stadium in the Tujanga section of Los Angeles. He used to watch games from the pavilion seats, also known as the stands.

“Wherever I could get a ticket. I think they were somewhere between $5 and $7. I’m sure that wasn’t the case tonight,” Stanton said. “Everywhere left and right and sometimes a little better as I got older and had more connections.”

He hit a tiebreaker 457-foot home run into the pavilion defeated the Dodgers’ Tony Gonsolin in the 2022 All-Star Game and has 10 home runs in 25 regular-season games at Chavez Ravine – the most impressive a 475-foot ride to Miami in May 2015. Stanton is one of only five players to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium, joining Willie Stargell (twice), Mike Piazza, Mark McGwire and Fernando Tatis Jr.

“I’ve learned the trajectory of the ball here many times over the years,” Stanton said.

Given a record at the time $325 million, 13-year contract With the Marlins in 2017, Stanton hit 59 home runs and 132 RBIs, winning the NL MVP Award. His first season in the Bronx was a success with 38 home runs and 100 RBIs, but he missed 266 of 708 games over the next five seasons due to a series of injuries that included right bicep, right knee, left hamstring strains (twice ) and the left quadriceps along with inflammation of the right ankle and tendonitis of the left Achilles tendon.

He came into spring training much leaner this year and hit 27 home runs and 72 RBIs in 114 games – between June 22 and July 29 he was sidelined by a left hamstring strain.

Stanton had more than 25 family members and friends at the World Series opener. He knew his first appearance at the Fall Classics was a significant moment for them.

“Not as much as it means to me,” he said. “You can enjoy the show, but at the same time I’m not here to just play in LA. I’m here to win.”

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