Gleyber Torres Homers Twice in Eighth Inning, Making Yankees History
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NEW YORK — Fans flocked to Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night in hopes of witnessing one historic home run.
Those that stuck around until the eighth inning in a lopsided Yankees victory got to see two.
No, Aaron Judge didn’t leave the yard. He went 2-for-4 with two doubles and a walk in his first opportunity to hit his 61st home run of the year, looking to tie Roger Maris for the most ever in a single season in the American League.
What happened in the eighth inning was similarly rare, something that’s only been accomplished a handful of times in franchise history.
Gleyber Torres homered twice in an eight-run inning, beginning the frame with a solo shot over the short porch in right before capping the offensive outburst with a towering three-run blast to left.
Torres is just the fifth Yankee to ever hit two home runs in a single inning. Alex Rodriguez did it twice (in 2007 and 2009) while Joe DiMaggio also accomplished the feat in 1936.
"One the other way and then an exclamation point on it with a three-run homer to left," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the win, New York's third in a row. "That makes for a good week right there."
Boone knows a thing or two about going yard twice in a single frame. The skipper homered twice in the first inning of a Padres-Reds game in Cincinnati in 2002.
History aside, Torres was already putting together another productive night at the plate on Wednesday, part of what’s been an impressive stretch here in the second half of the season. Torres mixed in a walk and an RBI single as well against Pittsburgh, going 3-for-4 with five RBI and four runs scored. He extended his modest hitting streak to 10 games, batting .400/.438/.733 in that span.
"I do a lot of work before the game," Torres said, speaking about his confidence stemming from his preparation."Every night is different, every at-bat is different. Just trying to be myself, be consistent. Don't think to much. See the ball and just try to hit."
Whatever it is that Torres has been doing at the plate has been working. Since the 25-year-old's miserable month of August (batting .180 with a .464 OPS in 25 games), Torres has produced the best month of this season. Overall, the second baseman is now up to 23 homers in 2022, slashing .252/.304/.445 across 538 plate appearances. Over his last two seasons before this one, Torres struggled, hitting just 12 homers over 676 plate appearances.
"Look, it's great to see Gleyber obviously continue to play like he's playing, have the kind of at-bats he's had lately," Boone added. "They've been instrumental in us kind of turning around over this last couple of weeks. He's been right in the middle of all that."
MORE:
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- With Zack Britton Ready to Rejoin Bullpen, Yankees Have Decision to Make
- Returning From Injured List, Luis Severino Has Sights Set on Postseason
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