It’s been a pretty ugly final month of the regular season for Giancarlo Stanton, who entered Thursday in a 9-for-56 funk with just one home run in his last 16 games.

However, as October approached, there was reason to believe he could get going soon, given Stanton’s productive streak in the postseason, if nothing else.

And in Thursday night’s 10-1 win over the Orioles that clinched the AL East title for the Yankees, it was Stanton who led the way.

He hit a home run in the second inning to give the Yankees and Gerrit Cole an early lead, then helped seal the game with a three-run double to right-center in a six-run sixth.

“He’s the X factor for us,” Aaron Judge said. “We’ve seen it postseason after postseason. He makes it big for us with big hits. But I could see a different look in his eyes (Thursday) when I walked on the field. He was locked in, he had a different focus, like the playoff Stanton we’ve seen so many times.”

Unlike some past years, there will be no debate about Stanton’s postseason role as he is a pure DH these days.

And he has arguably the best postseason resume of any Yankee position player, with 11 home runs and a .963 OPS in 110 plate appearances.

Nobody in the lineup has a higher playoff OPS and only Judge has more home runs (13), but they have made 88 more plate appearances.

“It’s the most important time of year,” Stanton said. “There is no other option.”

When asked what gives Stanton an advantage this time of year, Aaron Boone said, “Talent and (he) is very mentally strong. He prepares very carefully and is not affected by a bad shot or the associated noise that some players can make.

“He’s been through it and he knows how to deal with it.”

Overall, it was a solid bounce-back season for Stanton, who had the worst year of his career in 2023 when the Yankees missed the postseason and he hit .191 with a .695 OPS.

A slightly slimmed-down version of Stanton has been much better this season as he looks to build momentum before the playoffs.

With Thursday’s double and homer, 14 of Stanton’s last 21 hits went for extra bases.

So while he’ll continue to be a sloth on the basepaths and deliver a ton, Stanton will look to live up to his massive contract with another solid October.

That success wasn’t as evident the last time Stanton and the Yankees reached the postseason two years ago, when Stanton went just 6 for 32 with four extra-base hits.

But that came after a regular season in which he limped to the finish line.

He appears to be healthy now and the Yankees could use some protection for Judge and Juan Soto.

“When you have (Stanton) in the middle of the lineup, driving guys and hitting big home runs, it just gives that lineup so much depth and really takes the pressure off a lot of guys,” Judge said.