[Westside]

MIAMI -- The season may be winding down for the Marlins, but Giancarlo Stanton is showing no signs of slowing down his pursuit to break through the 60-homer barrier.

Stanton slugged two home runs and drove in three on Thursday in the Marlins' 7-1 win over the Braves at Marlins Park, and the All-Star right fielder now has 59 homers with three games remaining.

"They're loud and quick, and they're fun to watch," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "They're amazing when you see those. It's been fun watching them. It's pretty amazing to me that somebody hits that many. It's just a lot of homers."

The second home run, off lefty Rex Brothers' first-pitch slider, was crushed. Statcast™ tracked it at 467 feet with an exit speed of 118.7 mph. That exit speed was the fourth hardest home run ever tracked by Statcast™, which launched in 2015.

Now with 59, Stanton has placed his name in exclusive company. That number has been reached just 10 times in MLB history. Babe Ruth finished with exactly 59 in 1921.

No. 60 been achieved eight times in history, with Barry Bonds holding the season record of 73 in 2001. Stanton is the sixth player to have as many as 59 -- joining Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Roger Maris and Ruth.
"Those are all the guys I looked up to, modeled my -- some are lefties -- but modeled my swings, your home run trots, just the way the ball flies," Stanton said. "I was able to see a bunch of them from the stands, and it's just crazy to be in that company. 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."

Giancarlo Stanton discusses being among the greatest single-season home run hitters after picking up his 58th and 59th homers in a 7-1 win

In the fourth inning, Stanton launched a moonshot off Julio Teheran. The Marlins' All-Star right fielder had gone 21 plate appearances and 18 at-bats between home runs before launching one off the Braves right-hander. It was another no-doubter for Stanton, who is the first player to reach 58 home runs since Ryan Howard with the Phillies in 2006.
Howard, via Twitter, congratulated Stanton.

Statcast™ projected the first home run at 422 feet with an exit speed of 109.2 mph. The towering drive, which had a launch angle of 31 degrees, came off a 72.5-mph curveball.

"He was on those breaking balls," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "He's a different hitter now. He's made adjustments and matured. You've got to make pitches, because he can hit them a long way when you don't."
Stanton had been in a mild home run slump, by his standards. He hadn't gone deep since last Saturday at Arizona. The three RBIs on the night give him 129, increasing his franchise season record.

Stanton's historical home run surge has captured the imagination of the Majors and the entire sports world. The 58-homer milestone has been reached just 14 times in MLB history, and players to finish with exactly 58 homers were Howard, McGwire (1997), Hank Greenberg ('38) and Jimmie Foxx ('32).
Since the All-Star Break, Stanton has 33 home runs in 70 games, and in September, the slugger has gone deep eight times. For his career, he now has 267 home runs, and they are split nearly evenly -- 135 at home and 132 on the road.

"It's coming right into the barrel, so don't come around it," Stanton said of his thought process. "Just stay inside, put a good swing and don't try to hit a homer. And sometimes you do."

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/256618102/...-59th-hrs/