MIAMI (AP) – Barry Bonds. Sammy Sosa. Mark McGwire. Roger Maris. Babe Ruth.
And now Giancarlo Stanton.
The Miami slugger homered twice to become the sixth player to reach 59 in a season, and the Marlins opened the last series of Jeffrey Loria’s tenure as owner by beating the Atlanta Braves 7-1 on Thursday night.
“It’s crazy to be in that company,” Stanton said. “It doesn’t sink in yet. It doesn’t make sense, really, yet. But it’s really cool. It’s everything I’ve worked for and it’s something really cool.”
Stanton hit a solo home run in the fourth, then added a two-run drive in the eighth that would have gone 467 feet unimpeded, according to MLB’s Statcast. He has 33 home runs since the All-Star break and 10 multihomer games this season.