Parrot Power

Edwin Encarnacion has been more down than up, hitting just .167 since joining the Yankees in a mid-June trade. But this week, there are strong signs this veteran's power bat is heating up. Three home runs earlier this week against Tampa Bay. Then, Friday night, hitting with the bases loaded in the 3rd inning, he crushed his 12th career grand slam to swing the Yanks from two runs down to a two-run lead.
My seat in the first row of section 426 gave me a perfect angle on Tuesday's second inning bomb off into the left field seats off Ryne Stanek. It's not the quite the original Stadium's Death Valley, but still an impressive distance.
I'd been eager to capture Encarnacion's distinctive home run trot -- right arm outstretched as if he's carrying a parrot. I've seen another player do anything like this.
Heading back to the dugout, time for a low five with Didi Gregorius.
This homestand has apparently answered plenty of questions. With the lineup in tact except for Giancarlo Stanton, the offense looks like the Yankees, albeit more righthanded than usual. And the pitching has been effective enough. Domingo German, who threw the opener of Thursday's doubleheader, is back on his A-game after a hip issue. And the rest of the staff at appears capable. October baseball is a different animal, but right now, the Yankees are rolling toward their first division title since 2012.

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