New York Post - 13.08.2019

New York Post, Tuesday, August 13, 2019

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By DAN MARTIN

There’s no bigger mismatch in
baseball right now — or in sports,
for that matter — than Yankees-
Orioles.
And no one embodies it more
than Gleyber Torres, who contin-
ued his dominance over Balti-
more in both games of the Yan-
kees’ sweep of Monday’s split
doubleheader in The Bronx.

He hit a first-inning homer in an
8-5 win in the opener and then
smacked two more in the night-
cap, as the Yankees held on for an
11-8 victory that gave them 14
straight wins over the Orioles this
year.
“It’s fun to watch, especially
when that guy’s on your team,’’
Cameron Maybin said. “It doesn’t
matter who he’s playing, he has a
very high confidence level in
his abilities.”
Torres entered the day on an
0-for-14 skid and there were
questions about how healthy
he was after missing four
games with a core injury be-
fore his return in Toronto
over the weekend, but the
blasts gave him 13 while facing
the Orioles this season, good
for half of the 26 he’s hit.
“I know my body,’’ Torres
said. “I feel really good.”
He became the second Yan-
kee since 1961 to hit at least

that many homers against one

team, joining Roger Maris (13 ver-

sus the White Sox) in 1961. Only

Lou Gehrig can top that number

in MLB history, with 14 versus

Cleveland in 1936, according to

the YES Network.

And it was Torres’ fifth multi-

homer game against Baltimore, a

new MLB record versus one op-

ponent in a season.

The Orioles finally decided to

walk him intentionally in the

eighth — to load the bases.

Baltimore manager Brandon

Hyde called it “the Barry Bonds

treatment.”

“Obviously, he’s killed us all

year,’’ Hyde said. “We continue to

throw the ball in the middle part

of the plate to him. ... I had

enough and put him on.”

Torres admitted he was “sur-

prised” by the move.

The Yankees’ dominance over

the Orioles didn’t stop there, as

they reached deep into the 40-

man roster to find a pair of reliev-

ers and still cruised to victory in

the second game.

After Chad Green mowed

down all four batters he faced as

the opener in the nightcap, the

Yankees practically trolled the

Orioles, first by bringing in Joe

Mantiply — who hadn’t pitched

in the majors since 2016 — and

then Brady Lail, in his MLB de-

but in his eighth pro season —

all in the Yankees’ system.

They combined to pitch 5 ²/₃ in-

nings and both allowed three runs

before being optioned to Triple-A

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the

game.

Nestor Cortes Jr. couldn’t finish

the ninth, as the Orioles scored

two runs before Adam Ottavino

finally closed it.

In all, the Yankees hit seven

more homers on Monday, adding

to their record number against the

Orioles with 59 in just 17 games.

“We’re playing for home-field

advantage [in the postseason]

right now, so every game is im-

portant,’’ Maybin said of the

team’s ability to not take it easy

against lesser competition.

It’s their longest stretch without

a loss against a team in one season

since they beat the Philadelphia

A’s 15 consecutive times in 1954

and the victories put them a sea-

son-high 38 games over .500.

James Paxton gave up three

runs in six innings in the first

game, but the lefty gave up a run

in the first for the sixth time in his

last seven starts and allowed two

more homers.

It hardly slowed the Yankees, as

they continued to crush Balti-

more pitching in the bottom of

the first. Didi Gregorius clob-

bered a three-run homer to center

to make it 3-1 before Gabriel Ynoa

recorded an out. Torres then

crushed a one-out homer to right

to give the Yankees a 4-1 lead.

Maybin’s two-out shot to left in

the sixth made it 7-3 and a Grego-

rius sacrifice fly an inning later

gave the Yankees a five-run lead.

[email protected]

By MOLLIE WALKER

Gio Urshela says he didn’t
know the extent of his ability
in the batter’s box prior to
Monday against the Orioles.
But after he smashed a
461-foot home run in the
fifth inning of the Yankees’
8-5 victory over the Orioles
in the first game of a double-
header in The Bronx, the
third baseman guessed he
can consider himself a
power hitter going forward.
“He hits one up on the res-

taurant the other day in To-

ronto. Again, from the start

of spring training, he caught

my eye, his ability in batting

practice,” Yankees manager

Aaron Boone said following

the first game, after an initial

disbelief at the range of Ur-

shela’s homer. “... No, I’m

not that surprised [at his

power], he’s really come

into his own as a hitter.”

Urshela led the Yankees in

Game 1, going 3-for-4 with

two runs and two RBIs, along

with the solo homer. He was

a triple short of the cycle. In

the doubleheader finale, Ur-

shela batted third as the des-

ignated hitter, stringing to-

gether a 3-for-5 performance

with another two runs

scored in the 11-8 victory.

Urshela has multi-hit

games in five of his past

seven contests and has

safely reached base in each

of his last 18 games with a

plate appearance, posting a

.452 average (33-for-73) with

nine homers

After a leadoff walk in the

first to Brett Gardner in

Game 1, Urshela reached on

a fielder’s choice to put run-

ners on first and second.

Didi Gregorius followed

with a three-run homer to

right-center before Gleyber

Torres capped off the inning

with a solo shot for a 4-1 lead.

With two outs in the sec-

ond, Gardner sent a deep

double into the right-field

corner before Urshela

dumped a double over

Orioles center fielder Ste-

vie Wilkerson’s head to

put the Yankees up 5-1.

Urshela’s homer in the fifth

tied him with Mike Trout,

Max Kepler and Trey Mancini

for the third most home runs

in the AL since the All-Star

break (11). More impressively,

all three of his hits came with

two strikes in the count.

To cap off the afternoon,

Urshela recorded the game-

ending out in the ninth,

scooping up a Mancini

grounder at the edge of the

infield dirt and making a

strong, off-balanced throw

across the diamond for the

final out.

“Man, that guy is on fire.

He’s unreal,” Game 1 starter

James Paxton said of Urshela.

“And that play at the end of

the game, that’s a tough play

and he made it look easy. He’s

really good and I’m happy

that he’s on our team.”

“Like I always say, it’s con-

fidence,” Urshela said. “Try-

ing to go to the box with that

confidence every time. Be

ready for every pitch.”

[email protected]

Confident Urshela continues to swing red-hot bat

YANKEES 8

ORIOLES 5 Game 1

YANKEES 11

ORIOLES 8

Game 2

Boxscores / P. 34

RIGHT AT HOMER: Gleyber Torres (left) continued his dominance over the Orioles, hitting three

home runs (two in the second game) in the Yankees’ doubleheader sweep. Didi Gregorius, who hit a

three-run shot in the first game, celebrates with Gio Urshela (above) after Urshela’s solo blast in Game 1.

Gley’ to waste

Gleyber Torres has

dominated Orioles

pitching this season

compared to the rest of

the league. Here’s a look:

VS. O’S vs. MLB

16 GAMES 92

.414 AVG. .261

13 HR 13

20 RBI 49

1.623 OPS .746