Gleyber Torres made some puzzling decisions on the basepaths in the Yankees' 5-3 loss to the Orioles on Tuesday night at the Stadium.
With the Yankees trailing by two runs with two outs in the seventh inning, Juan Soto singled to right field to drive in a run, cutting the Orioles' lead to 4-3 and advancing Torres to third base.
But as the ball was thrown home, Soto sprinted to second base, and Torres took a half-jump toward home before being tagged out for an errant rundown.
If Torres and Soto had both been safe at the end of the play, Aaron Judge would have at least had a base on base to score the winning run.
The Yankees slugger said it was a mistake that should not have happened in a situation like that.
“At the end of the day, that's not going to happen,” Judge said after the Yankees failed in their first attempt to win the AL East. “We can't keep shooting ourselves in the foot with these kinds of baserunning mistakes.”
Torres and Yankees manager Aaron Boone tried to explain the inexplicable after the loss.
When asked about the decision after the game, Torres said he was simply trying to prevent Juan Soto from being tagged out on the base.
“In that situation, you just protect him. I felt like I had a little gap going to home plate, a little delay, and then they got me out,” Torres said of the seventh-inning error.
Boone also said Torres was trying to prevent Soto from being tagged out at second base, but he should have done a better job either faking the run or actually running toward home plate to make the play tougher for Baltimore.
“He makes mistakes on the bases. He got into a lot of trouble last year and the year before, but he's gotten a lot better now,” Boone said. “I think he's been a little less aggressive. But I think tonight is also a game of protecting the runner. But again, it's either he's bluffing or he's going all out.”
The Yankees will have another chance to win the championship on Wednesday night in the Bronx.
