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In the eighth inning on Wednesday, a brain cramp from Gleyber Torres contributed to the Yankees losing the lead.
In the ninth, his clutch single helped them regain the lead and ultimately leave Camden Yards with a 4-3 win over the Orioles.
It was yet another interesting day in a bizarre season for the 24-year-old infielder.
Torres, pulled out of Tuesday’s win because manager Aaron Boone was unhappy with his lack of energy and worried about his defensive shortcomings, may have flipped and found himself in good favor with the Yankees after a another hiccup on the ground.
After Luke Voit started the ninth with a walk, Torres scored in the middle of the field against Orioles reliever Tyler Wells, then stole second place as part of a double steal with Tyler Wade and scored the point winner on the simple bloop of Brett Gardner.
“I think that was important, just a really tough batting attack he threw there,” Boone said after the Yankees won their third straight game, after 12 losses in 15 games. “It’s a big place there and I think he did a really good job at batting. … He helped us set up a jackpot in this round.
A round earlier, Torres had made a mental mistake. With the first runner on base in the bottom of the eighth, Cedric Mullins hit a rocket towards Torres in the second. Torres, who went from shortstop to second base on Monday as his defensive problems worsened, lined up the ball after a brief jump. But he immediately threw on first base instead of second, for what could have been a double play. Instead of two strikeouts, the Yankees got just one. And with two strikeouts, Austin Hays took Chad Green deep for a two-run home run.
“Initially, [Austin] Wynns freezes on him a bit and destabilizes him a bit, ”said Boone, referring to the Orioles wide receiver who was the runner at the start. “Obviously it was a game he should have finished second. He had time, but ended up coming out early.
Ahead of the game, Boone addressed Torres’ withdrawal in the eighth inning on Tuesday. He said it wasn’t just about his defense, but his inability to miss a ground ball. The two spoke about the play that angered the manager.
“I spoke to him after the game [Tuesday] night and we’re kind of going to end it there, ”Boone said. “It’s not something that I intend to do necessarily. There were things that happened in the game [Tuesday] night I felt it was necessary to get him out of there [that] night.”
When asked if it bothered him that Torres didn’t break it after the grounding, Boone replied, “A little, yes.”
It has mostly been a lost season for the young infielder, who has struggled with injuries, a false positive COVID-19 test that sidelined him and struggles both on the field and at home plate. . As recently as 2019, Torres hit 38 home runs, clocked 90 runs and posted a solid .871 OPS. This year he has an anemic .253 / .324 / .350 slash line with a .674 OPS and just seven homers in 397 at-bat. He also made the worst 19 mistakes of his career.
But on Wednesday, Torres helped the Yankees win an important game – even though he was partly to blame for their delay in the first place.
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