TORONTO — It will take more than one swing to declare Gleyber Torres as “back,” but he took a step in the right direction Friday night.
After returning to the lineup following a two-day benching to get his mind and swing right, Torres, who went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, crushed a two-run homer in the sixth inning to cap off the Yankees’ six-run explosion en route to a 16-5 blowout win over the Blue Jays.
Torres entered the at-bat 0-for-2 on the night and 2-for his last-31, but turned on a 2-0 inside fastball from Blue Jays reliever Nate Pearson and drilled it 385 feet to put the Yankees up 7-3.
The first teammate to greet Torres at the top step of the dugout was Marcus Stroman, who had appeared to be frustrated with the second baseman a half-inning earlier.
With no outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a high chopper off Stroman to shortstop.
Having to wait for the hop, Anthony Volpe got the out at second base before Torres’ throw to first was not in time to nab Guerrero for the double play.
Stroman appeared to be upset on the mound as TV cameras showed him yelling into his glove.
He then walked Justin Turner on four pitches to spell the end of his night, and when he got to the dugout, he got some more yelling out to nobody in particular.
The fiery Stroman finished the night allowing three runs across 4 ⅓ innings, though he was taken off the hook by the top of the sixth inning by Torres and company.
