The Yankees squandered Giancarlo Stanton's recent playoff homer heroics in Game 1

LOS ANGELES – Giancarlo Stanton was ready to be another October hero for the Yankees.

It was a Hollywood iteration of a script the Yankees stuck to during their playoff run this month.

Stanton delivered the go-ahead two-run home run off Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty in the top of the sixth inning, a moonshot down the left field line that pierced the stratosphere before touching down 412 feet away.

It was Stanton's fourth straight game with a home run, dating back to the American League Championship Series against the Guardians, his 17th home run of the postseason. Each of his last five goals came from the yard. He was the Yankees' best hitter, picking up his teammates – especially Aaron Judge – when they weren't performing great.

However, Freddie Freeman's walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning turned Stanton's home run into a footnote.

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Restore the glory

Stanton compared Friday's tough loss to Game 3 of the ALCS against Cleveland, another thriller that ended with a walk-off home run.

Stanton hit another big home run after the fact in this game. His go-ahead shot against Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase faded from focus as Cleveland hit a few big home runs of their own, including a walk-off by David Fry against reliever Clay Holmes.

“You hate to lose like that, but a loss is a loss,” Stanton said Friday night. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s 3:1 or 10: nothing. A loss is a loss. We have plenty of opportunity to split up and go home.”

What the Yankees can count on, regardless of the final results, is that Stanton is up to the challenge this time of year. He's been building on his already impressive October resume all month long.

The home run he hit against Flaherty on Friday wasn't even a bad pitch. He had to dig down and play the two-hit break ball to the left, sending it flying through the air at 116.6 miles per hour. Flaherty missed his spot, but it was still a hard throw, a testament to how attached Stanton was to him.

“I just fought,” Stanton said of his playoff performance. “Wear down every punch. I'm getting all the information I can. I’m trying to produce.”

Dodger Stadium was also a home run paradise for the superstar slugger, a stadium Stanton attended as a child growing up in Panorama City, California.

In 25 regular season games in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, Stanton posted a .309 OPS with a 1.086 OPS. Taking into account the 2022 All-Star Game and Friday night's unforgettable Game 1, Stanton has now hit 12 home runs in 27 games at Dodger Stadium.

He remembers when he paid just $5 or $7 to sit in the bleacher seats in left and right field at Dodger Stadium. It wasn't until he got older and “had more connections” that Stanton started getting better places.

For the first game of a timeless World Series, the fans in the seats where Stanton used to sit — or those near where his moonshot of a home run landed — must have dropped in the thousands upon thousands.

What Stanton did for the Yankees this month is now priceless.