Orioles rearrange furniture, still can’t contain Gleyber

BALTIMORE — The Orioles moved their left-field 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,” Aaron Boone said. “And that dates back to spring training. I felt like he was from the get go, kind of having good atbats, 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 baserunning 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.”

Torres is coming off two miserable years in which he struggled defensively as the starting shortstop, and that seemed to carry over to his offense. The Yankees finally gave up on that experiment last September and moved him back to second base, where he is obviously more comfortable. He made a heads-up double play that cut short an Orioles’ threat in Monday night’s first inning.

Torres also took the last two seasons to heart, heading immediately to the Yankees complex after last season to work with hitting coaches to find his swing from 2019.

“I think it is a motivator. think it’s taking

of experience,” I advantage

Boone said.

And nothing gets Torres going like a trip to Camden Yards or seeing the Orioles across the field. Torres has hit .328/.409/.642 with 14 doubles, one triple, 16 home runs and 44 RB in 59 career games against the Orioles.

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 and put up a 13-foot wall.

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.

DAY OFF

Aaron Hicks was the odd man out of the lineup Tuesday. The center fielder went 1-for-4 with a single in the fourth inning in Monday night’s victory.