Known for arm, Hicks makes impact with bat

NEW YORK — Hitting a game-winning home run against the Red Sox is a quick and easy way to endear yourself to Yankees fans.

Such is the case for Aaron Hicks who, coming into the Yankees’ 3-2 win over the Red Sox on Friday, had quite a bit of endearing to do to get in the fans’ good graces.

The outfielder entered the day batting .091 with more than twice as many strikeouts as walks, zero extra-base hits and more outfield assists than RBIs. But leading off the seventh inning in a tie ballgame, Hicks changed that narrative, ripping the first pitch he saw from Boston starter Rick Porcello into the right-field bleachers, supplying the go-ahead run and enabling Joe Girardi to unleash his deadly bullpen tandem of Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller to secure victory. Statcast™ projected the mammoth home run landed 446 feet away and had an exit velocity of 107 mph.

To Hicks, the home run was a culmination of the effort he’s been putting in since his arrival in the Bronx this year.

“I just wanted to help the team win,” Hicks said. “Defensively, I felt like I was doing it, but I also wanted to do it offensively. It felt good to actually do …

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