New York: Dominican rookie Gary Sanchez continued the blistering start to his New York Yankees career by blasting two home runs in Monday’s 7-5 loss to Seattle.
The 23-year-old, who was called up to the Major Leagues on August 3, now has eight homers in his first 19 games, setting a Yankees record for the fastest to reach that total.
A highly touted prospect as a catcher, the Yankees signed Sanchez as an international free agent when he was 16. He is batting .385 with eight home runs and 15 RBIs. He went 3-for-4 with three RBI on Monday, with homers coming in the first and sixth innings.
Prior to the game on Monday, Sanchez was named American League Player of the Week, the first Yankees player to win the award this season.
“It means a lot to me, especially now at the beginning of my career here,” Sanchez told reporters through an interpreter. “And I’m just hoping for better things to come.” Sanchez’s emergence could not come at a better time for the Yankees, who are losing Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira to retirement and are clinging to slim play-off hopes.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi wants to see Sanchez at the plate as much as possible.
“I want him to get at-bats because he’s been so productive,” said Girardi. “Do I think he could be a three hitter? Yes I do. Do I think he could be a four hitter? I think he could do that too. I just love what he’s doing with the bat.”
Meanwhile, Adrian Gonzalez hit three home runs, and Andrew Toles and Rob Segedin became the first players in Dodgers history to hit their first career homers in consecutive at-bats, lifting Los Angeles to an 18-9 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
Gonzalez had a career-high eight RBIs. The Dodgers’ seven home runs were their most since September 18, 2006, against the San Diego Padres and their 21 hits were a season high. The 18 runs were the most for the Dodgers since September 28, 2006, at Colorado.
Corey Seager and Yasmani Grandal also went deep for Los Angeles. Seager finished with four hits and three RBIs, while Chase Utley and Howie Kendrick each added three hits.
Red Sox starter David Price threw eight innings of shutout baseball, getting his first win as a visitor at Tropicana Field and leading Boston past his old team, Tampa Bay.
Price (12-8) took a one-hitter into the eighth inning, then got a huge save from left fielder Andrew Benintendi, who made a leaping grab over the wall in the corner to rob Steven Souza of what would have been a two-run home run. The former Rays ace was 0-3 in three previous starts against Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field.
