ST. PETERSBURG — This winter, as he labored out on his personal throughout the lockout, Gleyber Torres got here to phrases with the place he was in his profession. The 25-year-old knew adjustments needed to be made. The large one, a transfer from shortstop to second base, was made for him earlier than the tip of the 2021 season. The different change was going into the Yankees minor league complicated earlier than the homeowners locked the gamers out and asking new hitting coach Dillon Lawson for assist.
The adjustments in Torres are paying off. Friday evening. Torres homered and made two sturdy defensive performs to again up a stellar begin by Jameson Taillon within the Yankees 2-0 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field.
The Yankees (33-13) gained their fourth straight recreation and assured a minimum of a cut up of this four-game collection within the first assembly with their American League East rival Rays (26-19). They have gained 11 of 14 collection this season up to now. They maintained the most effective file in baseball with their sixth shutout of the season.
Taillon threw a career-high eight scoreless innings, holding the Rays to 2 hits. It was his first scoreless begin of the season. He struck out 5 and didn’t stroll a batter. It was the fourth time this season Taillon didn’t subject a base on balls and the primary time in his final 4 begins. Taillon had nice fastball command Friday, getting 5 swing-and-misses on the four-seamer and 6 referred to as strikes.
It was the fourth time this season the Yankees have had a starter go eight innings and the second straight recreation. That’s an enormous assist to a bullpen that has been hit by accidents — shedding Chad Green (Tommy John surgical procedure), Jonathan Loaisiga (shoulder) and Aroldis Chapman (Achilles) within the final week. Friday evening, Clay Holmes closed it out along with his twenty fourth consecutive scoreless inning over 22 appearances Friday choosing up his sixth profession save.
Matt Carpenter, added to the roster on Thursday and already making his second begin, bought his first hit as a Yankee. He homered within the the fourth inning to provide the Bombers a 2-0 lead in opposition to lefty starter Jeffrey Springs.
There was little question about Torres’ eighth dwelling run of the season. In his second at-bat on Friday evening, Torres crushed a 91-mile-an-hour fastball from lefty Jeffrey Springs a number of rows deep into the left-center subject seats. The 438-foot homer was so positive to be out of the park that Torres took three steps up the primary final analysis admiring it after which flipped his bat to the aspect.
It needed to really feel good.
Last season, Torres hit simply 9 dwelling runs whole in 127 video games and he’s hit 12 homers in 2020 and 2021 mixed. His struggles started in 2020, when after MLB shut down spring coaching for 4 months due to the coronavirus, the Yankees felt he confirmed as much as the restart of the season out of form. He suffered a leg damage and struggled. In 2021, he had an early bout with COVID-19 and a thumb damage that hindered him. After hitting .251 with a .671 OPS in 107 video games at shortstop, nonetheless, Torres ended the season on slightly surge. He hit .300 with an .815 in his final 19 video games — all at second base.
You can see the distinction.
In 44 video games this season, Torres has proven that he’s extra comfy at second base, after a disastrous try to begin him at shortstop the final two seasons. That appears to have carried over to his offense. Torres is hitting .234/.276/.448 with a .724 OPS.
Torres is also exhibiting it along with his glove. In the fifth inning Friday evening, he made the inning-ending seize on a ball deflected off Taillon, making a tricky play look easy. In the sixth, with an out and a runner on second, Torres went to his proper and grabbed Mike Zunino’s line drive along with his backhand to carry the runner and get Taillon nearer to the tip of the inning.
Taillon no-hit the Rays by means of 4 innings.
Randy Arozarena’s groundball single below Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s glove to guide off the fifth was the primary hit off the Yankees’ righthander Friday evening. Manuel Margot hit a curveball that Taillon tried to drop in for a strike to double within the seventh.
That was all of the Rays bought off him.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com