What Yankees’ Gary Sanchez changed to get hot at plate … finally

Sanchez was 4-for-5 with two homers and a double in the Yankees’ win in Kansas City on Saturday night.

KANSAS CITY — On a night Aaron Hicks became the first Yankees player to hit two inside-the-park homers in a season since Mickey Mantle had three in 1958, Gary Sanchez had a shot at a baseball rarity during his ninth-inning at-bat.

Earlier, Sanchez singled, doubled and homered. A triple would have made him the first Yankee since Melky Cabrera in 2009 and 16th ever to hit for the cycle.

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“I definitely don’t have one of those in me,” Sanchez said with a grin.

Instead, Sanchez settled for another homer that capped the scoring in an 8-3 Yankees win over the Royals that kept them tied with the Red Sox for first in the AL East.

Of the many things Yankees manager Aaron Boone loved about this win, Sanchez’ 4-for-5, 3-RBI showing was up there with Clint Frazier having a nice season debut, Gleyber Torres rebounding from a tough defensive night to hit a tie-breaking homer and Hicks’ second inside-the-parker.

Sanchez has had some tough times offensively and defensively already this season, but he’s definitely been looking like his old self at the plate of late with a .391 average over his last eight games with nine hits in 23 at-bats plus seven walks and only three strikeouts.

His surge has Sanchez’ average up to .225, his homer total up to a team-high 12 and his RBIs up to 33, which rank second on the club to Aaron Judge’s 35.

“I definitely feel better at the plate,” Sanchez said. “That being said, I know in my mind I’m not going to hit .210. It’s a long season. There are a lot of games to come, but I’m definitely feeling better at the plate.”

What’s changed?

Sanchez says his batting stance and swing are the same.

Boone has noticed an approach change.

“The thing that I’m excited about for Gary is I think the first few weeks he didn’t walk,” Boone said. “I think sometimes he can get so hitterish because he can handle so many pitches. What I’m seeing now is the patience, and along with the patience you get into better counts.

“Now all of a sudden, he gets a mistake, and Gary’s hits ’em out of the ballpark when you make a mistake to him. So that’s what gets me excited. When he’s controlling the zone, he’s on the short list of deadly hitters, and that’s what we’re starting to see more and more.”

Sanchez was deadly in his first two big-league seasons, hitting .299 with 20 homers and 42 RBIs in a 53-game rookie season in 2016 and then .278 with 33 homers and 90 RBIs in 122 games last year.

This year, despite hitting for a low average, Sanchez has been productive, and that’s what matters to Boone. 

“I really don’t get caught up in average,” Boone said. “I’m looking at OPS, on-base percentage, at-bat quality.”

Sanchez has improved his at-bats by being a smarter hitter of late.

“It’s just simple to me,” Sanchez said. “It’s about not swinging at bad pitches and looking for good pitches to hit in the zone and making sure if I get those, not miss them and make good contact.”

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.