Gleyber Torres appeared to be shaken up and had his neck examined during his at-bat in the eighth inning Sunday night — which proved to be a case of friendly fire.
Shortly before Torres had come up to bat, late in the Yankees’ 6-3 win at Fenway Park, Giancarlo Stanton celebrated his own two-run homer by smacking him on the helmet. Torres then felt it flare up on a swing-and-miss minutes later, according to Aaron Boone.
“I might have been a little too hyped,” Stanton said with a grin. “I gotta ease up next time.”
Before Torres’ at-bat, Joey Gallo was drilled on the right shin with a 94 mph fastball.
“We’ll see how he is overnight,” Boone said
Even with a left-hander on the mound Sunday night at Fenway Park, Luke Voit remained out of the Yankees lineup for a third straight game.
Instead, the left-handed hitting Anthony Rizzo and Brett Gardner started each of the three critical games against the Red Sox, including Sunday’s series finale against Eduardo Rodriguez, which the Yankees won 6-3.
Voit has had success against Rodriguez in the past, entering Sunday 5-for-13 (.385) with three doubles and a home run lifetime against him. Rizzo went 0-for-2 against Rodriguez and Gardner went 1-for-2, but Rizzo later added a big double during the Yankees’ game-winning rally in the eighth inning.
“That was a tough call for me tonight,” Boone said before the game. “There’s certainly a case for him to be in there. So that was probably the biggest thing I slept on and wrestled with most of the day today. Just decided this was the way I wanted to go.”
Since starting three straight games from Sept. 13-15 — including two at DH, with Stanton shifting to the outfield — Voit has been in the starting lineup just three times over the last 10 games.
While Boone could roll out a lineup with Voit as DH, Stanton as a corner outfielder and Aaron Judge as a center fielder, Gardner’s hot bat has made that happen less frequently. The 38-year-old was slashing .300/.382/.567 with five doubles, three home runs and eight walks over his last 17 starts since Sept. 6.
The Yankees have set their rotation for the final week of the regular season.
Jameson Taillon will return from a partially torn tendon in his right ankle to start Tuesday’s series opener against the Blue Jays, followed by Gerrit Cole and Corey Kluber. Cole leapfrogging Kluber in the rotation, and staying on normal rest, will allow the Yankees to be flexible with their ace — either keeping him in line to start a potential AL wild-card game or possibly bringing him back on short rest for Game 162 against the Rays if needed.
“I feel ready for it,” Taillon said Sunday. ��The whole time I’ve been rehabbing, I’ve had these dates targeted and I understand every game, no matter who it was down the stretch, was going to be huge. So I’ve already kind of had that on my mind now for the last couple weeks.”
Jonathan Loaisiga threw a bullpen session Sunday at Fenway Park, his second since being shut down with a strained rotator cuff, and remains on track to be activated during the Blue Jays series. Boone said the team was still determining whether Loaisiga would be back Tuesday or Wednesday.
— Additional reporting by Dan Martin