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Gary Sanchez's home run barrage leads to impressive record

It’s almost like clockwork now. When another New York Yankees game begins, another Gary Sanchez home run is likely right around the corner.

The sensational rookie slugger continued his barrage on Saturday afternoon, connecting for his 11th home run in the Yankees 13-5 win against the Orioles. That makes 11 home runs for Sanchez now in 23 major-league games, which is a feat no other player has accomplished in the game’s illustrious history.

Even more impressive, Sanchez’s 11 homers have come in 20 games since he was recalled on Aug. 3. In fact, he’s hit 10 of them in New York’s last 12 games, which includes multi-homer games against Toronto and Seattle. Over that stretch, Sanchez is hitting .500/.584/1.272. Those numbers are absolutely absurd, and they’re playing a large role in the Yankees gaining ground in the postseason picture.

Gary Sanchez follows through on his record-setting 11th home run in his 23rd MLB game. (Getty Images)
Gary Sanchez follows through on his record-setting 11th home run in his 23rd MLB game. (Getty Images)

We should also note the Sanchez has excelled defensively as well. That includes a circus catch on a tough pop foul Friday night, and another baserunner caught stealing on Saturday. Based on the early returns, teams might want to think twice before challenging him at the plate or behind it.

Again, it’s still too early to anoint him as anything more than a rookie in the midst of a ridiculous hot streak, but his skill set suggests he’ll be a total package once he a slows down and settles in. First things first though, someone still has to figure out how to slow him down.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!