BUST SLUMP! Bomber bats finally get going in victory against Cleveland

is the game.”

That broke a streak of eight straight games with four or fewer runs. The last time the Yankees (7-11) scored five or more runs was April 11 at Tampa Bay. It was, however, just their second win in their last eight games and they have a long way to go to get back on track. But there were good signs. Torres, who went into the game hitting .186 with 15 strikeouts in 16 games, had three singles and an RBI. Kyle Higashioka, starting in place of Gary Sanchez, homered and doubled. Rougned Odor, who was benched the last two games and was only back in the lineup because Gio Urshela was dealing with a tight back, singled through the gap into right field to drive in the two go-ahead runs in the seventh inning. Aaron Judge had three walks.

It wasn’t just encouraging with the bats.

German settled down after a sloppy defensive first inning that looked like it could unravel him and the Yankees. The 28-year-old, making just his third big league start since serving an 81-game suspension under baseball’s domestic violence policy, gave up three runs, two earned, on seven hits. He walked one and struck out six.

He became just the third

Yankees starter to get through six innings in a start this season and snapped a streak of having allowed a home run in 12 straight starts, dating back to July 17, 2019.

It was a small step back in the right direction, especially for Torres, who earned a meeting with Aaron Boone after he jogged out a checked swing ball in the loss to the Braves. Travis d’Arnaud easily threw him out at first base as he jogged up the first base line and the boos rained down.

That annoyed the Yankees’ usually even-keeled manager.

“I think any time you’ve got that kind of situation where a guy’s got to get off the mound, you’ve got to get after it,” Boone said. “I think initially, the check swing, probably in his mind it’s a foul ball right. Then it’s like, ‘Oh, no, I’ve got to get going,’ then you’re a little late. That’s got to be a little bit better obviously.”

Torres admitted he should have run harder after the game and admitted he was frustrated.

“I feel like I started running late, I feel like I can put a little more effort running to first base.” he said after that game.”

Torres made a nice defensive play to help the Yankees dig themselves out of the three-run hole they fell in after the first when Brett Gardner dropped a ball, another squirted past Odor and German bobbled a comebacker to give Cleveland a 3-0 lead. Torres’s single in the third drove in two of their three runs and he scored again in the seventh.

Boone was also quick to turn the page.

“Look, Gleyber has been working. Gleyber cares,” Boone said. “And he knows like a lot of these guys, as I continue to say, they know deep down how good a player they are, and will be. Sometimes you gotta go through some junk to get through and to punch through.

“I just thought he played very much under control today. I thought he played the game with some joy and when he’s doing that he’s a dangerous guy.”