MIAMI – Hunter Strickland’s crossover moment came in the 10th inning of a tied game, with Giancarlo Stanton, the lumber god of the underworld, on the other side.
Strickland threw him a slurvy slider. Then he threw another. And another.
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He struck out the most chiseled and powerful hitter in the major leagues on three swings, each one more feeble than the last. There were plenty of signs over the past few weeks that Strickland had arrived as a fully formed late-inning presence. That confrontation Monday at Marlins Park was the gold foil seal on the certificate.