KIDS ARE MORE THAN ALL RIGHT
Garcia, Gleyber come to Yanks’ rescue
BUFFALO — The Yankees’ future isn’t so bleak after all. Sure, they may not fully pull out of this tailspin of a season. Wednesday night’s 7-2 victory over the Blue Jays at Sahlen Field could just be a temporary halt to the bleeding.
But the way that Deivi Garcia and Gleyber Torres stepped up in what could be the biggest win of this strange coronavirus pandemic-shortened season bodes well for the future of this franchise.
And Wednesday night, it gave this current Yankee team its first glimmer of hope in almost a week. Garcia pitched seven brilliant innings and Torres drove in four runs as the Yankees avoided a sweep by the Blue Jays.
It snapped a five-game losing streak for the Yankees (22-21), who are still in for a tough finish to this 60-game season. They cut into the two-game hold the Blue Jays (24-19) have for second place in the American League
East, and more importantly the top-six seeding in the playoffs that goes with it.
The win also changed the tenor around the Yankees, who less than 24 hours before were talking about being embarrassed and teams not being afraid of them anymore.
It started with the 21-year-old rookie right-hander knowing what this team desperately needed and going out and attacking a dangerous Blue Jays lineup.
“It started early today, from the moment I got here I believed that we were going to win and I just wanted to do my job,” Garcia said through team interpreter Marlon Abreu. “I wanted to go as deep as I could in the game and allow the bullpen to rest, and help out and do my job as long as I could out there.”
The 21-year old did the job of a stopper.
He allowed two runs — both came on a home run — six hits and struck out six. He did not walk a batter in seven innings. He is only the third Yankee starter to get through seven innings this season.
“He’s just got such a good feel out there and mound presence and moxie,” Aaron Boone said. “I don’t know what you call it, but he has the ability as a young pitcher to just kind of add and subtract with his fastball.
“He went, he got creative and went a little more to the slider that third time through the order. He just demonstrated a really good feel for pitching and continued to throw strikes,” Boone continued. “I think he ended up with no walks, which was huge. He started to get some hard-hit balls on him a little bit there in the middle innings, but was able to continue to kind of make some stuff up along the way to kind of feel his way through it.”
After Torres had given Garcia a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, Garcia gave it up on a two-run homer to Derek Fisher.. DJ LeMahieu homered on the first pitch in the third and Garcia wouldn’t give an inch after that.
Torres helped deliver Garcia his first major-league win. The 23year old shortstop was crucial to last year’s 103-win team and has to be again if the Yankees are to save this season.
Torres came into Wednesday night’s game slashing .225/.343/ .303 with one home run, six RBI and 20 strikeouts in 89 at-bats over 28 games.
Last season, while the Yankees were going through an MLB record 30 players suffering injuries, Torres and LeMahieu carried this offense. Torres hit .278/.337/.535 with 38 homers and 90 RBI in 546 at-bats. Not only was he one of two regular players not to go on the IL, but he and LeMahieu played at an AllStar level all season long.
“I don’t focus right now on going up to hit a home run and I just try to get really good at-bats. I try to get really good contact and help my team at every opportunity,” Torres said. “So, I use the plan I have the first two years (in the big leagues). During the first couple of weeks, I forgot about that and just went crazy. But now I go with my plan.”
That’s a plan that can work for the Yankees now and, with these two blossoming stars in their early 20s, into the future.