SPLITSTORM

Stanton revenge HR nott enough as Yanks stumble in nightcap Bombers threaten ESPN over schedule Judge strikes out record 8 times in DH

Giancarlo Stanton blasts a 456-foot HR, one at-bat after he was plunked by Mike Fiers, the pitcher who hit Stanton in the face four years ago. But it didn’t help as the Yanks lost Game 2 in Detroit 4-2 after winning the opener 7-4. Meanwhile, the Bombers escalated their feud with ESPN.

DETROIT — Every now and again, Gleyber Torres does something to remind you that he is not, in fact, a finished product and that he is, in fact, a rookie, with less than 40 games in the big leagues under his belt.

Every now and again there will be a play like the fifth inning of the first game of Monday’s makeup day-night doubleheader with the Tigers, two outs, no one on, Yankees up six, the Tigers’ Leonys Martin bouncing a routine grounder to Torres at second — and Torres booting the ball, then throwing it away, earning an error on the play when he should have gotten two.

Every now and again there will be a moment like the ninth inning, Jeimer Candelario popping a ball straight up — “A home run in a silo,” the great Bob Murphy always called them — but flummoxing Austin Romine, who drops it. Still, Canderlario is slow to get out of the box, so Romine gathers the ball and readies to fire it to first base, where Torres should be covering … … but he isn’t covering. Those two misplays actually led to two Tigers runs and they were essentially the only blemishes in an effective, efficient 7-4 Yankees victory. And they are notable only in the way they prevent you from getting too far ahead of yourself when you talk about Gleyber Torres.

Which is becoming harder and harder to do, even if he added a quiet 0-for-4 in the nightcap, a game the Yankees lost 4-2.

Still, Torres hit another homer run in the first game, tying matters at 1-1 in the third and restoring order before the rest of the Yankees onslaught could finish off overwhelmed Tigers starter Drew VerHagen. He is certainly the most dangerous ninth-place hitter in all of baseball (though he hit fifth in Game 2) with his .307 average and

.952 OPS. (In truth, one of the many remarkable things about the Yankees lineup is how absurdly productive the bottom of the

Torres is so good, so young, that even when he has a less-than-perfect game in the field his manager simply shrugs off the issue as the occasional cost of doing business when you’re trying to shepherd a phenom into your lineup, one who’s playing away from his natural position to boot.

“The newness of that position can’t be overlooked,” Aaron Boone said of Torres, a shortstop by trade who will be playing second for the Yankees for the foreseeable future (though he did slide over there for the nightcap on Monday in order to give Didi Gregorius a breather).

His bat can’t be overlooked either. “More good at-bats,” Boone said. “He just continues to be a threat with quality at-bats being a common theme.” There’s good, though, and then there’s historic. Such as this: Youngest Yankees to 10 Career HR: Mickey Mantle 19 years, 323 days Gleyber Torres 21 years, 173 days Joe DiMaggio 21 years, 216 days

Such are the dance partners available to you when you become a Yankee, because you are never simply joining the present team but everything that’s come before. And even given that standard — let’s face it, that’s one hell of a list to be a part of.

And one other thing: he may have some lapses in the field but as we’ve also seen plenty across his first month and change in the bigs: he’s also plenty spectacular out there, too. Boone chalked up not covering first on the pop-up to underdeveloped instincts at his new position, but he also praised Torres for even getting to the earlier ball he made his error on.

“He worked hard to get to the ball and get in position,” Boone said. “He just kicked it and then his feet got tangled up.”

He shrugged. Some things you learn to live with. Easily.