Giancarlo Stanton's hardest-hit ball in MLB this season powers Yankees over Astros again

NEW YORK – Giancarlo Stanton had just disintegrated a 1-2 curveball, sending it screaming into the Bronx night at 119.9 mph as measured by MLB Statcast.

Before that, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge had homered on Wednesday night against Houston Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti, a rookie making his fifth big-league start.

It was only the third inning, a four-run Yankees lead, but Stanton’s missile into Yankee Stadium’s left field second deck had the effect of a devastating punch.

Nope, the Astros were not going to recover from these early shots by the Yankees’ power trio. Overall, it’ll be a challenge for Houston just to find its way back to sea level.

“Kind of puts a smile on your face when those guys do that,’’ said manager Aaron Boone, after his power trio boosted the Yankees to a 9-4 win before 37,660 fans on a summer-like night.

Yankees are dominating Astros in 2024

Nothing will erase the soul-crushing AL Championship defeats suffered by Judge and the Yankees at the hands of the Astros.

But the Yankees’ recent domination of Houston has moved that pain a little further away, replaced by intoxicating thoughts of what might be ahead for these 2024 Yankees.

This year, the first place Yankees (25-13) are 6-for-6 against the last place Astros (12-24), with Boone’s club positioned to sweep the season series Thursday, behind starter Marcus Stroman.

For a second straight night, the Yankees answered a first-inning homer by Kyle Tucker with a barrage of runs, starting with Soto’s ninth of the year.

“Soto got the party started,’’ Judge said of that 440-foot, two-run shot toward the back of the visitor’s bullpen in left-center field.

Judge’s 404-foot leadoff homer in the third was soon followed by Stanton’s 447-foot solo rocket, the hardest base hit this year as measured by MLB Statcast.

Stanton had smashed a homer in Tuesday’s 10-3 win against Houston that registered at 118.8 mph.

Yankees' power trio has a night

Wednesday night marked the first time as Yankees teammates that Soto, Judge and Stanton had gone deep in a game, and the second time Soto and Judge had accomplished it.

“It means good things are happening and the Yankees are winning,’’ Judge said of the Yanks’ flashing this kind of power, and perhaps the captain is finding his stride.

With a homer to right-center, two doubles and three RBI Wednesday, Judge is batting .500 (9-for-18) with four doubles, two homers, six RBI and four walks over his last five games.

“Judge is very locked in the last couple of days,’’ said Soto. “Really excited for that. Can’t wait to see him going crazy.

“And G, how hard he hit that ball… amazing,’’ Soto said of Stanton. “You don’t see guys hitting balls 120 (mph) every day.’’

Carlos Rodon bounces back from rough Baltimore start

Watching Soto from the on-deck circle, Judge often gets the feeling that “something special’s going to happen. You just don’t know when it is.’’

“It’s not going to be easy every night,’’ said Soto (3-for-5), with a season-high five RBI Wednesday, batting .448 (13-for-29) with runners in scoring position.

“But we’re capable of that and more’’ as a lineup, with Wednesday’s windfall benefitting starter Carlos Rodon.

Bouncing back from a six-run, four-inning loss at Baltimore last week, Rodon had his signature fastball-slider combo working, yielding two runs across 6.1 innings.

“I like how much he was in the strike zone,’’ Boone said of Rodon, whose slider was a big swing-and-miss pitch Wednesday, helping him to seven strikeouts.

“That makes it a lot easier to pitch,’’ Rodon said of the loud, early 5-1 lead. By contrast, “it’s hard to pitch against a lineup like we’ve got when you’ve got those guys clicking.’’

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Giancarlo Stanton's hardest-hit ball in MLB powers Yankees over Astros