On two occasions Saturday, the Yankees’ hustle was rewarded.
A sprinting Ben Rice made the Blue Jays pay once they literally dropped the ball.
Gleyber Torres — yes, Gleyber Torres — dashed hard from first base to second to beat out what may need been a double play.
Each Rice and Torres got here around to attain on home runs, that are advisable for teams that train a highlight on effort levels: Hit the ball far enough, and you’ll be able to run as slowly as you would like.
After Aaron Boone sent a message to the whole club Friday by benching Torres since the second baseman turned a could’ve-been double right into a single, the Yankees responded by swatting three dingers that allowed them to ease across the bases in an 8-3 win over the Blue Jays in front of 40,218 sweaty fans in The Bronx.
The Yankees (66-46) bounced back from an all-around poor night and won their sixth game in seven tries using might greater than their legs.
Powerful swings from Aaron Judge (his forty first homer in yet one more ridiculous season), Trent Grisham (seventh) and Anthony Volpe (eleventh) accounted for the primary six of their eight runs, which proved plenty for Carlos Rodon and the Yankees’ bullpen.
Rodon let up a solo shot to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the primary inning before Judge gave the Yankees their first lead of the series and one which they might not quit.
The captain cranked a two-run homer into the visiting bullpen in left-center to tie 1927 Babe Ruth for probably the most first-inning home runs (16) in a single season in franchise history. Judge has one other 50 games if he desires to pass Ruth.
The Yankees wouldn’t face much drama the remaining of the best way, a respite after a dramatic Friday.
An evening earlier, Torres was pulled after three innings for not hustling on a play that eventually cost the Yankees a run.
The Yankees gave the impression to be on high alert Saturday, running out nearly every thing and converting two close plays into runs.
Within the second inning, Rice sent a hopper to second baseman Spencer Horwitz, who dropped the ball, picked it up and fired to first base a split-second too late.
The rookie had hustled and reached on an error, which ensured there was a runner on base for Grisham’s blast to right that put the Yankees up three.
The lead was stretched to 5 within the fifth, when Torres’ legs got here through.
After singling, Torres sprinted from first to second base on a Jazz Chisholm Jr. ground ball to first. Guerrero dropped the ball, stepped on the bottom and threw to second, where Torres beat the tag by a hair.
Three pitches later, Volpe crushed his fifth home run in his past 11 games, a tank to left in one other example of the shortstop perhaps attempting to pull the ball more often.
The Blue Jays answered with two runs within the sixth inning against Rodon and Jake Cousins, but that’s as close as they might come.
Insurance arrived within the late innings. Within the seventh, Volpe reached out and poked a single into left to drive in Judge (who was on base in 4 of 5 plate appearances, including a bases-empty intentional walk) for a four-run edge.
The lead became five within the eighth, when Austin Wells stroked an RBI single.
Fittingly, the Yankees ran away with this one.
