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...