Rarely does reality match imagination.

After spending nearly all of the regular season rehabbing from multiple injuries to return for his second-ever trip to the postseason, Giancarlo Stanton went 0-for-1 with three walks, and suffered a pair of defensive miscues, in the Yankees’ 10-4 win over the Twins on Friday night in Game 1 of the ALDS.

After appearing in just 18 games during the regular season — including nine in September upon returning from a knee injury — the longtime right fielder looked shaky in the opposite corner, where he has played just 46 games in his 10-year career.

The issues cropped up in the fifth inning when Stanton came up empty on a diving attempt of a sinking liner, which allowed Luis Arraez to secure an easy double.

“You go out there and give everything you can. You don’t want to be going what if, what if, you go and do it and try and make a play,” said Stanton, when asked if he was diving on his knee. “That play I just should’ve kept it in front with that situation of the game, but it was fine.”

Shortly afterward, Jorge Polanco singled to left, with Stanton bobbling the ball and erasing any opportunity to throw out the game-tying run at home.

Cameron Maybin entered as a defensive replacement for Stanton in the eighth, which the former MVP said he expected with a big lead. Manager Aaron Boone said he isn’t doesn’t think Stanton’s defense will become an issue.

“Not at all. I mean, the ball he dove for, I thought he moved really well on it, laid out, didn’t quite get it,” Boone said. “I’m not concerned at all.”

Stanton was far more patient at the plate than last postseason, when he drew one walk in 22 plate appearances. But in his first at-bat, Stanton couldn’t pass up the chance to play hero, swinging at a 3-0 pitch with runners in scoring position, but hitting a slow roller to third, which ended the inning.

In the third, Stanton walked to load the bases, and helped put the Yankees in front with a slide which disrupted Arraez’s throw on a potential inning-ending double play. That resulted in an error, allowing two runners to score and putting the Yankees up 3-2. A Stanton walk loaded the bases again in the fifth, setting Gleyber Torres up for a go-ahead two-run double.

“That was the biggest factor of tonight, not giving in, taking our walks and getting a good pitch to hit,” Stanton said. “They didn’t know what to do. They were throwing good pitches and we were staying in our zone. That’s what we need to continue to do.”