Giancarlo Stanton brought the October ferocity the Yankees sorely need

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Maybe the Royals were not “lucky.” But they sure weren’t unlucky.

There was the Gleyber Torres floater down the right-field line that sure looked like it kicked up chalk and should have extended the third inning but was called foul on the field — with an actual right-field umpire standing nearby — and foul on a bunch of replays that made your family’s old home videos look like Spielberg.

There was a check swing appeal that led to an Aaron Judge strikeout to end the seventh inning that was hard to see as a swing and probably should have ended in a walk.

And there was a night of really good Yankees at-bats that began in the first inning, when Juan Soto hit a ball that is out in 17 of 30 stadiums but not Kauffman Stadium. And Judge smashed a 114.4 mph liner that shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. snared when it seemed it already was in left field. And Oswaldo Cabrera and Anthony Volpe combined to get on base six times, and a successful sacrifice bunt from Alex Verdugo and a stolen base from — really — Giancarlo Stanton.

But somehow through seven innings, the Yankees had just two runs, and the folks at Kauffman Stadium were alive, never more so than with the unending booing of Jazz Chisholm Jr., who had called the Royals “lucky” for winning Division Series Game 2. Thus, he was Public Enemy No. 1 now in Kansas City.

It is pretty simple with these Yankees: If they don’t hit the ball out of the park, no matter how well they play on offense, they simply have trouble scoring.

Which is a way of saying that Stanton is not around to steal bases. And his normally slow gait to protect his legs is tolerated because the Yankees want the game-changing ferocity of his swing. And with the tension growing that his team might be moving toward nine innings to winter, Stanton brought the ferocity.

Stanton had been a one-man early batting practice on Wednesday afternoon in an empty stadium. Whatever he unearthed was invaluable. He smashed a 114.1 mph RBI double in the fourth inning. Fell behind 0-2, worked it even and stroked a single to set up his stolen base in the sixth. And with one out in the eighth, Stanton crushed a 3-1 Kris Bubic slider 417 feet for a go-ahead homer.

In the other three Division Series, the lower seed went up two games to one (and the Mets followed by closing out the Phillies). The Yanks, the AL’s top seed, avoided the same fate. The totality of their bullpen continued to hold the Royals in check, and Stanton had the kind of day the Yankees keep awaiting from Judge. So the Yankees won, 3-2.

They lead this best-of-five two games to one and have their ace, Gerrit Cole — trying to rebound from a Game 1 in which the Yankees won but he was hit hard — in an attempt to get back to the ALCS while avoiding a Game 5 against the Royals on Saturday.

Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle and Luke Weaver followed Clarke Schmidt with 4 ¹/₃ shutout relief innings in front of a crowd of 40,312, which included a minority owner in the Royals named Patrick Mahomes. Holmes has done a lot to distance himself from a rickety regular season, appearing in all three games and delivering four shut innings. He now has been in nine career playoff games and authored 12 shutout innings.

Another player doing a lot to improve upon his regular season is Anthony Volpe, whose at-bat quality in the three games has been excellent. He had two walks and a single Wednesday, and made a vital sprawling play beyond the infield dirt to catch a Vinnie Pasquantino looper that, had it fallen, would have put runners on first and third with one out in the eighth and the Yankees leading by one.

Ultimately, though, this was the Stanton game. He drove in two runs when the Yankees were 1-for-13 with men on base, 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and had left 11 base runners. Leadoff man Torres, Juan Soto and Judge combined for four walks and Soto had a sacrifice fly, but those three plus cleanup man Austin Wells were a combined 0-for-15.

Thus, a lot fell to the fifth-place hitter. And Stanton did not falter. With all the injuries and extended slumps associated with his regular-season time with the Yankees, Stanton has proven to be a superb postseason performer. He now has 12 homers in 30 playoff games.

The latest broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning. It had nothing to do with luck. And now the Yankees are one win away from the ALCS.