Soft flare gives Stanton 1,000th career hit

WASHINGTON -- The mention of Giancarlo Stanton's name conjures images of jaw-dropping home runs and scorched line drives, but to collect career hit No. 1,000, all the Yankees outfielder needed was a soft flare.
Stanton dropped a fifth-inning single into shallow right field off left-hander Gio González on Tuesday as the Yankees and Nationals opened their two-game Interleague series at Nationals Park. The game was suspended after 5 1/2 innings due to inclement weather and will resume on June 18 at 5:05 p.m. ET, with the score tied at 3.
"It is really cool, but I forgot at the moment that I got it until they called for the ball," Stanton said. "It's definitely cool."
Stanton said that he plans to offer the milestone ball to his father, Mike.
"Some I give to my dad, some I keep around," Stanton said. "If he wants something like that, I give it to him. He's got first dibs."
Of Stanton's 1,000 career hits, 499 have been for extra bases: 211 doubles, 11 triples and 277 homers. He is one of three players in history with at least 499 extra-base hits through his first 1,000 hits, joining Babe Ruth (517) and Adam Dunn (507), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The first 960 of Stanton's hits came with the Marlins, for whom he played from 2010-17. Stanton joked that his 1,000th was more solidly struck than his first, an infield single off the Phillies' Kyle Kendrick on June 8, 2010.
"You see my first hit ever?" Stanton said. "I think [the 1,000th hit] might have been harder than that one, so I'm fine with it."