SAN FRANCISCO — Before Juan Soto could take his big swing, Gleyber Torres and Jose Trevino had to do some small work to ensure he got at-bats in the ninth inning.
With Soto coming up to bat fourth, Torres hit a leadoff single off Giants closer Camilo Doval before Trevino shuffled in to prevent a double play and the Giants came from behind to win 7-5 on Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park.
Anthony Volpe followed with an RBI triple, and Trevino again sprinted and scored from first base “in my fastest gear,” before Soto hit a two-run homer to give the Yankees the lead.
“Obviously, I know who’s batting behind me and how important it is for those guys to get up to bat,” Trevino said. “I’m just going to work hard and play for the guys in the clubhouse. Plain and simple.”
The Yankees were quiet late Sunday, but Torres sparked a rally in the ninth inning with a single to center field off Doval that manager Aaron Boone said “could be felt in the dugout.” Trevino followed suit to lead the Yankees to the win.
“Those little things can get overlooked, but we all see it and it leads to big innings,” Aaron Judge said.
Jason Dominguez’s rehabilitation period reached the maximum limit of 20 days on Sunday, so the Yankees must act on his next step, which is expected to mean demoting him to Triple-A.
Dominguez’s rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery has progressed smoothly, but he has only appeared in three games in the outfield (the rest as a designated hitter) and does not have a regular spot on the Yankees’ current roster.
Dominguez was batting .333 (17-for-51) with four home runs in 14 games (with Single-A Tampa and Double-A Somerset) during his rehab assignment leading up to Sunday.
Former Yankees left-hand pitcher Art Sharrock, the oldest living retired major leaguer, spoke with Boone and the players in the dugout Sunday morning.
The Yankees honored Sherlock with an autographed team jersey when he turned 100 in April.
“That was the biggest thrill for me, walking into Yankee Stadium,” Sherlock said.
Sherlock played for the Yankees from 1951-55, winning two World Series. He was roommates with Yogi Berra as a rookie, played with Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, and remembers Ted Williams as the toughest hitter he faced, though he says Williams never allowed Sherlock to hit him. So how did he strike out the Hall of Famer?
“Junk,” Sherlock said, laughing.
On Lou Gehrig Day, all teams wore stickers with the number 4 on their uniforms, and Boone was optimistic about the increased awareness of ALS that has come along in recent years.
“I feel like we’ve done a better job globally and as a sporting community in terms of shedding light on this disease that’s named after one of the sport’s greats,” Boone said. “Hopefully, we’ll continue to do that. Hopefully, we’ll continue to make progress towards eventually finding a cure. But this is a terrible disease and I’m happy to be able to bring attention to it, especially in our sport.”
