Torres Hits 3-Run Homer, German Earns 1st Win As Yankees Beat Rays
NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres hit another three-run homer and Domingo German struck out a career-high 10 for his first major league win as the New York Yankees edged the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in the opener of a four-game series Thursday night.
Aaron Hicks also homered off Blake Snell (8-4) as New York beat the blossoming left-hander for the second time this season and ended his four-game winning streak.
German (1-4) gave up a home run to Matt Duffy on the first pitch of the game but quickly recovered to strike out the next three batters. Making his seventh start in place of injured Jordan Montgomery, the rookie right-hander allowed three runs, five hits and two walks in his 19th career appearance.
Chad Green and Dellin Betances set up Aroldis Chapman for his 19th save in 20 attempts.
Wilson Ramos and Joey Wendle each had an RBI single for the Rays, who were coming off a three-game sweep of Toronto.
Duffy tried to score from first on Ramos' run-scoring single in the third when the ball caromed off left fielder Giancarlo Stanton after he charged in and got his body in front of it. Stanton chased down the ball and fired a strike to catcher Gary Sanchez at home plate, cutting down Duffy for the final out of the inning to keep the score 2-0.
Fresh off a three-day breather, the slumping Sanchez also threw out Carlos Gomez trying to steal third with one out in the seventh.
Hicks hit an opposite-field homer to right in the fifth. Aaron Judge singled and Sanchez drew a two-out walk before Torres drove a 96 mph, full-count fastball to left for his 13th homer since being called up from the minors on April 22. This was the first one that didn't come from the No. 9 hole — Torres batted fifth as the Yankees started nine right-handed hitters against Snell.
The rookie has five three-run homers already, most among big league hitters. Torres also went deep in Wednesday night's loss to Washington.
New York, with the best record in the majors at 44-20, hasn't lost consecutive games since May 22-23 at Texas.
Making a strong bid for his first All-Star selection, Snell struck out eight and threw 105 pitches in five innings. He was 3-0 with a 0.38 ERA in his previous four starts.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rays: Gold Glove CF Kevin Kiermaier (right thumb surgery) and SS Adeiny Hechavarria (strained right hamstring) are moving from Class A Charlotte to Triple-A Durham this weekend to continue their rehab assignments. Each is scheduled to be the DH in one of the three games from Friday through Sunday. ... RHP Chris Archer (left abdominal strain) is likely to play catch Friday, manager Kevin Cash said. ... INF Daniel Robertson (strained left hamstring) probably will play a rehab game or two at Class A and the team hopes he'll be able to come off the disabled list next Thursday, the first day he's eligible, Cash said.
Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka (two strained hamstrings) was kept home with a virus but is expected back at the ballpark Friday. The issue shouldn't delay Tanaka's return, manager Aaron Boone said.
UP NEXT
Rays: Nathan Eovaldi (1-1) starts Friday night against his former team, his fourth outing since coming back from a second Tommy John surgery. Eovaldi pitched for the Yankees from 2015-16, going 14-3 in 2015, but has never faced New York. "I wish I would have been able to finish on a healthy note. Other than that, I really enjoyed my time there," Eovaldi said. The right-hander visited with Yankees players during batting practice and said he still keeps in close contact with New York relievers Chasen Shreve and Betances.
Yankees: RHP Jonathan Loaisiga comes up from Double-A Trenton to make his major league debut, pitching in place of injured starter Masahiro Tanaka. The 23-year-old Loaisiga, from Nicaragua, returned last year from Tommy John surgery. "I think he's really talented. I think he's going to be a really good pitcher in this league," Boone said. "I think there's just a presence about him." Loaisiga was 3-1 with a 4.32 ERA in six starts at Trenton after going 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA at Class A Tampa this season, striking out 58 in 45 innings combined. "Super excited. This is a great opportunity the Yankees are giving me," he said through a translator. "It's been a tough road for me to get here and now it's about enjoying this moment."
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