Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton keeps bashing in win over Astros | Rapid reaction

NEW YORK — This is the Giancarlo Stanton the Yankees were dreaming of.

Stanton’s hot streak continued with three hits, including a two-run homer, in a 6-3 win over the hated Astros at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night.

The burly designated hitter came into the night hitting .609 (14-for-23) over his previous five games and proceeded to destroy baseball after baseball, while also recording a walk. He finished with four RBI and extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

Stanton carried the Yankees, who got just six hits out of the rest of their lineup. But starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery did his part, lasting six innings before the bullpen took over and blanked Houston, which didn’t get nearly the tongue lashing it received the night before from Yankees fans still sore over their 2017 cheating scandal.

Aroldis Chapman got the save, his seventh of the season, and the Yankees scored three runs in the eighth to cement the final score and win their season-high fifth straight game. They improved to 16-14 — their first time this season two games above .500. Houston dropped its third consecutive contest to fall to 15-15.

The Yankees were 5-10 on April 20. Since then, they’ve gone 11-4 — the best record in MLB over the span.

The Yankees’ pieced together the go-ahead run, with Aaron Hicks’ shallow looper down the right-field line bringing home Gleyber Torres from second base. Gleyber Torres started the inning with a soft liner single to left field off reliever Brooks Raley. Then the struggling Clint Frazier pinch hit for Mike Ford (0-for-3) and worked a full-count, seven-pitch walk.

That was when Hicks poked at a 2-1 sinker outside the plate and put the Yankees ahead. Hicks did it from the right side of the plate, where he’d entered the night hitting .250 in 30 plate appearances compared to .125 in 75 plate appearances swinging southpaw.

They would tack on runs with Brett Gardner’s sacrifice fly and Stanton’s RBI single to right-center.

Judge struck out five times and has just one hit in his last 12 at-bats. Houston’s Jose Altuve was the subject of more ugly taunts from the crowd, but they were less frequent than during Tuesday’s all-night barrage. He had a hit in four at-bats.

Montgomery gave the Yankees a chance to win, giving up three runs over six innings. He struck out the side in the second and retired the final seven batters he faced after a rough time in the third and fourth innings. The left-hander finished after 82 pitches, fanning four and giving up eight hits.

Stanton’s heroics continued in the fifth when his scorched two-out double to left field, scoring Brett Gardner, who had singled. That tied the game at 3-all.

The Yankees would then squander back-to-back chances. With runners on second and third, Aaron Judge struck out to end the inning. In the next frame, Gary Sanchez’s two-out walk loaded the bases for Gardner, who hit an infield pop.

Stanton’s third-inning blast put the Yankees ahead, 2-0. It scored DJ LeMahieu, whom Garcia had hit in the upper left shoulder in the previous at-bat. It was a laugher, traveling 435 feet to left-center. It was Stanton’s eighth of the year — a team-high.

That lead would hold … for almost no time. In the third, Montgomery melted, giving up three straight singles to the heart of the Astros’ order (Michael Brantley, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez) with no outs. Carlos Correa’s fielder’s choice ground out to second base brought in their first run, and then Yuli Gurriel and Aledmys Diaz rocked consecutive RBI doubles to left field to give Houston a 3-2 lead. The deficit would have been a run wider if not for the perfect relay from Brett Gardner to Gio Urshela to home that got a sliding Correa by a mile.

Chapman has faced 38 hitters in 11 innings this season. He’s struck out 26. His ERA is 0.00.

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Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.