Giancarlo Stanton powers Yankees against A’s with home run, four hits

NEW YORK - Once the rain subsided, Giancarlo Stanton provided plenty of thunder.

Stanton went 4 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs, sending Luis Severino and the New York Yankees to a 6-2 victory against the Athletics after a long weather delay Sunday.

Severino (6-1) struck out seven in six gritty innings, and New York won for the 19th time in 22 games to remain tied with rival Boston for the best record in the majors at 28-12.

“Up and down the lineup, we can hurt you a lot of different ways,” leadoff hitter Brett Gardner said as the Yankees packed their bags for a train ride to Washington. “It seems like a different guy every day. Today it was big G coming through.”

Aaron Hicks drove in two runs, Aaron Judge extended his RBI streak to seven games and New York took two of three from Oakland to win its seventh consecutive series. After a 7-2 homestand, the Yankees play 19 of their next 25 on the road.

“I’m really excited where we’re at, but it’s a long, long way to go,” rookie manager Aaron Boone said.

Jed Lowrie had an RBI single and Mark Canha homered late for the A’s, who lost five of six during a difficult stretch against the Astros and Yankees - last year’s AL Championship Series participants. Things don’t get much easier, with three games in Boston and four at Toronto to follow.

The start was delayed for 2 hours, 45 minutes, leaving most Yankee Stadium seats empty in a Mother’s Day crowd announced at 40,538.

Gardner’s infield single, Judge’s pop-fly double and a walk to slumping Didi Gregorius loaded the bases against Brett Anderson (0-2) with nobody out in the first. Stanton smacked a two-run single up the middle, and Hicks added an RBI single two outs later.

In the fifth, Stanton launched an opposite-field shot into the Yankees’ bullpen in right-center. He joined Judge, Gregorius and Gary Sanchez to give New York four players with at least 10 home runs just 40 games into a season for the first time in franchise history.

Before this year, not even three Yankees hitters had ever done it. The previous big league team to accomplish the feat was the 2003 Texas Rangers (Juan Gonzalez, Carl Everett, Alex Rodriguez and Rafael Palmeiro).

“If I make some pitches to Stanton, it’s a different ballgame,” Anderson said. “I just made some horrendous pitches to him. Fastballs out over the plate, what he’s looking for, and fed right into his game.”

Stanton raised his average 20 points to .252 and has hit eight of his home runs in five games started by Severino.