This story was originally published by Dead Spin
In his first at-bat Friday night, Gleyber Torres lifted a fly ball to deep left, went into a home run trot, and settled for a long single after watching the ball stay in the ballpark.
Torres subsequently was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first base on a double, and an inning later, he was pulled from the game.
The second baseman’s lack of hustle was a focus as the Yankees saw their five-game winning streak end, but Torres is expected to play Saturday afternoon when New York hosts the Toronto Blue Jays in the middle game of a three-game series.
The Yankees fell to 6-16 in their past 22 home games when they opened a season-high nine-game homestand with an 8-5 loss on Friday. Prior to the defeat, New York’s five-game winning streak was its longest such streak since winning eight in a row from May 29-June 6.
With the Yankees trailing 3-2 after Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 40th homer in the first inning, Torres had his long hit with one out in the second. Two batters later, he was tagged out at home on Anthony Volpe’s double.
After playing defense in the third, Torres was pulled before the Yankees took the field in the fourth. YES Network cameras showed manager Aaron Boone in a discussion with Torres, who also was benched for not hustling in a 9-7 loss to the New York Mets on June 25.
“I just felt like I needed to in that spot,” Boone said of removing Torres on Friday. “I’m not going to get too down the rabbit hole of making judgments on this one. I just felt like in that moment, I felt like I needed to do that. Simple as that.
“It is what it is. It’s over with. We gotta move on. He and I have spoken and hopefully this is a great learning moment for all of us.”
Torres said, “I have to get better. And I feel really sorry for whatever I do (Friday), especially for the fans and also for my teammates. I’m a human being. I made an error and I feel like whatever I do (Friday), I’m going to learn a lot.”
Toronto can clinch the season series with the Yankees after producing a three-run first inning and a four-run third on Friday. Ernie Clement drove in three runs and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
Guerrero, who is batting .509 (28-for-55) during the streak, may be in a lineup missing George Springer on Saturday.
Springer has a left shin bruise after fouling a ball off his leg in the sixth and exited the game an inning later. He is day-to-day.
“He’s going to just check it out … but I think it’ll be all right,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “We were planning on DH’ing him one of these games anyway. So if that’s (Saturday), great. If it’s not, hopefully Sunday.”
After New York got a short outing from Marcus Stroman (seven runs in 2 2/3 innings on Friday), Carlos Rodon (11-7, 4.34 ERA) will attempt to provide some length and win a third straight start. The left-hander has allowed three runs in 13 1/3 innings over his past two outings, against the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox, after going 0-5 in his previous six starts.
One of Rodon’s outings in his rough patch occurred at Toronto on June 27, when he was tagged for eight runs and 10 hits in five innings of a 9-2 loss. The left-hander is 1-2 with a 5.01 ERA in six career starts against the Blue Jays.
Toronto’s Jose Berrios (9-8, 3.93) will attempt to reach double-digit victories for the sixth time in his career and win consecutive starts for the third time this season.
Berrios last pitched Sunday against the Texas Rangers when he allowed one run on six hits in seven innings during a 7-3 win.
Berrios is 4-7 with a 4.96 ERA in 13 regular-season starts against the Yankees. He held New York to two runs in seven innings on June 27.
–Field Level Media
