Torres still owns Orioles even after wall at Camden Yards is pushed back

BALTIMORE — The Orioles moved their leftfield fence back 26.5 feet before this season, maybe hoping to contain Gleyber Torres. It may be more difficult to go over that fence now, but Torres is still tormenting the Orioles. Monday night, he reached base a career-high tying four times as the Yankees beat the Birds.

It’s not just the Orioles anymore, though, as Torres has been putting up good numbers for the last week before coming into Camden Yards to see his favorite victims. Heading into Tuesday night’s game against the Orioles, Torres was hitting .412/.500/.588 with three runs scored and a home run in his previous five games.

“I think first of all, he’s hit better than his number suggests. He’s done well, he’s hit some balls out of the ballpark. Obviously, he’s got a number of big hits. . . but I feel like his quality and contact has absolutely been there throughout,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “And that dates back to spring training. I felt like he was from the get go, kind of having good at-bats, getting in strong hitting positions, getting good swings off. I think that’s continued.

“He’s playing well on the field. (Monday) night, he did a little bit of everything,” Boone continued. “I thought his base running was really good. Obviously a huge play in the field and good at-bats. So I think it’s just a talented player, a maturing player, a young player that’s already been through a lot of experiences at the big league level. And to his credit, he’s learning and growing from all those.”

Stole one: On Monday, Giancarlo Stanton hit one of the longest balls of the game, a line drive 387 feet that came off the bat at 114 miles per hour. Normally that would put a run on the board for the Yankees, but not in the new Camden Yards. Stanton hit it to left-center field where the Orioles had moved the fences back 26.5 feet and put up a 13-foot wall.

“When he hit it, I didn’t think so. And then going back and looking I do think so,” Boone said. “So minus one for us.”

The wall also presents a challenge for left fielders, creating new, strange angles. Joey Gallo said it’s now one of the hardest left fields to play in the majors.

“Now there’s angles, different angles everywhere. There’s a 90-degree angle that definitely makes for an interesting and like, not normal, left field,” Gallo said.