TORONTO — It’ll take more than a swing to declare Gleyber Torres “back,” but he took a step in the right direction Friday night.
Returning to the lineup after spending two days on the bench to get his mind and swing in order, Torres hit a two-run homer and recorded his first two hits in more than a month to help the Yankees beat the Blue Jays 16-5 at Rogers Centre.
Torres, who had been working on fine-tuning his swing over the past two days, was out in his first two at-bats on Friday and was just two for 31 at-bats, but bounced back with hits in his next two at-bats, recording his first multi-hit game since May 26. He also hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to give him three RBIs on the day.
“I’m happy because I was able to do something for the team,” Torres said. [how] I’ve been working on it every day and I’m proud to have been able to help the team out tonight.”
The home run came in the sixth inning to cap a seven-run Yankees outburst and turn the game around, as Torres smashed a 2-0 inside fastball from Blue Jays relief pitcher Nate Pearson 385 feet to put the Yankees up 7-3.
“I feel like I’m more focused right now,” Torres said. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. My first few at-bats, I just missed a couple balls. … But I stayed focused. I think I was more frustrated before, but I was more motivated tonight.”
Manager Aaron Boone said before the game that he was hopeful Torres’ two days of rest would benefit him and the team, but there were no guarantees.
Boone felt a tough start to the season (Torres was batting .215 with a .628 OPS entering the night) weighed heavily on the second baseman, who is in the final year of his contract.
But at least on the first night after the break, Torres was able to get some results.
“I thought he made some good swings tonight,” Boone said. “I thought he made some good swings in some at-bats. Hopefully it’s a little bit of a foundation for him and helps him get going.”
