Fourth of July fireworks are typically saved for the dark of night, but Gleyber Torres couldn’t wait any longer after rain slightly delayed the start of the Yankees’ holiday matinee against the Orioles.
With right-hander Kyle Gibson on the mound, the second baseman clobbered a two-run home run in the first inning on Tuesday. Torres’ blast gave the third-place Yankees a quick 2-0 lead in what became an 8-4 win, their second in a row over their second-place rivals.
The Yankees now trail Baltimore by two games.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa added a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, while the O’s displayed some firepower of their own in the fifth inning. That’s when former Yankee Aaron Hicks — booed at every possible turn since the four-game series began Monday — lined one over Yankee Stadium’s right field porch. Adam Frazier then followed up with a two-run, game-tying homer.
Clarke Schmidt served up both of Baltimore’s bombs, but he only allowed those three earned runs over five innings. The righty also tallied five hits while striking out seven and walking none over 80 pitches.
“Credit to them for putting good swings on bad pitches,” Schmidt said. “Overall, it was good to get out of that inning and come away with a win.”
The Yankees, meanwhile, weren’t done with Gibson.
The veteran’s defense betrayed him in the fifth when Giancarlo Stanton grounded a single toward the middle of the diamond. Torres, already on first, ran on the play, which center fielder Cedric Mullins reacted to without much urgency. Mullins then lofted the ball into second base, where it was bobbled, so Torres just kept running home — even though third base coach Luis Rojas threw up a stop sign.
“Look, he is very instinctive, and that was a very instinctive play,” Aaron Boone said of Torres, who has made poor decisions on the bases recently. “It gets him in trouble sometimes, and if they throw him out at the plate, you guys would probably be asking me about it. Instead, the crowd goes wild. So it’s that fine line. You try and educate and talk through situations and learn from experiences all the time. Gleyber does have a knack for doing those kinds of things because he’s kind of fearless. Again, sometimes he gets in trouble, so you want to rein it in a little bit.”
Added Torres: “I saw the outfield really deep with Stanton hitting.”
That handed the Yankees a 4-3 lead. More insurance runs came in the seventh when Jose Trevino hit a solo homer off reliever Nick Vespi. Harrison Bader then added a two-run double off Bryan Baker.
“No matter what’s going on, he’s able to lock in, process what just happened, and move on really well,” Boone said of Bader, who hit a go-ahead homer in the first game of the series. “Nothing kind of hangs with him, whether it’s good or bad, indifferent. It’s just like, next play, next play, next play. And he lives that. You see that. He’s a really good competitor.”
One last Yankee run came in the eighth when the Orioles botched a potential double-play, while Baltimore plated one in the ninth off Albert Abreu.
Gibson totaled six innings, three hits, four earned runs, four walks and four strikeouts over 104 pitches.
The Yankees bullpen didn’t allow a run before Abreu entered with a big lead, as Ron Marinaccio, Wandy Peralta and Tommy Kahnle followed Schmidt with three blank frames. Kahnle has yet to permit a run over 13.2 innings this year after a biceps injury delayed the start of his third stint with the Yankees.
“Really just staying within myself, my routine, and just trying to do everything I can to stay healthy,” Kahnle said of his scoreless streak. So far, so good.
“It’s been a good ride.”
The Yankees now hold a 2-0 series lead over the Orioles, and they have a chance to take the set with a win on Wednesday night. Prospect Randy Vásquez will start for the Yanks, while Dean Kremer will take the ball for the Orioles.
The struggling Luis Severino will start the series finale for the Yankees on Thursday, while Kyle Bradish is scheduled to pitch for Baltimore.
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