Yankees' muscle downs Braves, Gleyber Torres hurt

by Felix Pantaleón

Star rookie Gleyber Torres was pulled in the middle of a 6-2 Yankees win over the Braves at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.

Updated: The Yankees put Gleyber Torres on the 10-day disabled list with a right hip strain. Here’s what it means for them.

NEW YORK — The Yankees will get a needed rest Thursday before a three-city, 11-game road trip, starting in Toronto on Friday, takes them into the All-Star break.

But manager Aaron Boone will have the health of his star rookie second baseman on his mind.

The good: The Yankees beat the Braves, 6-2, behind power and pitching at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.

The bad: Gleyber Torres, frontrunner for American League Rookie of the Year, left the game before the fifth inning with right hip flexor tightness. Torres was scheduled for an MRI, which the Yankees called precautionary.

Torres has been dealing with the issue for a little while, Boone said Tuesday, when he didn’t have the 21-year-old Venezuelan in the starting lineup but used him as a defensive substitution late in the game.

Losing Torres for any extended period would be a blow to the Yankees, who have been without starting catcher Gary Sanchez. Sanchez (strained right groin) isn’t expected to return until after the break.

What it means

The win kept the Yankees within 1 1/2 games of the first-place Red Sox in the American League East. Boston beat the Nationals earlier in the day.

The Yankees have won four of their last six games. The Braves dropped to 49-36.

Giancarlo Stanton (three-run), Kyle Higashioka (solo) and Aaron Judge (solo) each homered for the Yankees, who also got six two-run innings from CC Sabathia.

Jumping ahead

After Julio Tehran struck out the side in the first, Greg Bird’s two-out, groundball single through the first base and second base hole to score Didi Gregorius and put the Yankees ahead, 1-0.

The next inning, Neil Walker had a leadoff single and Aaron Hicks walked with two outs. Then Stanton absolutely crushed a home-run, smashing a 94-mph fastball in an 0-2 count that was about chest high deep into the right-center field seats. Suddenly, Sabathia had a 4-0 lead.

It was Stanton’s second home run in as many days and his 21st of the season — three behind team leader Aaron Judge, who hit a solo shot to right field in the bottom of the seventh. Judge’s home run, which he lofted high into the air, fell a few rows into the stands — not quite a short porch cheapie.

Making history

Kyle Higashioka, starting in place of the still-banged-up Austin Romine, made a little history. With two outs in the fourth, Higashioka homered to left field for a fifth insurance run.

That was Higashioka’s third career homer — and his third career hit. The last Yankees player to homer for his first three hits: Alfonso Soriano in 1999 and 2000. Higashioka also became the last player to do that since the Rockies’ Trevor Story in 2016, who homered for his first four hits, and the ninth player to do it since 1900.

Sabathia strong

Sabathia worked out of a bases-loaded spot in the first inning and while he didn’t have the control that’s been his trademark, he hit the strike zone enough to be effective and got some help from the defense.

Sabathia has given up just four runs in his last three starts. He struck out five, walked three and threw 103 pitches. His ERA dropped to 3.03 — the second-best on the Yankees’ staff. Sabathia didn’t give up a run until the fifth inning, when Danny Santana’s one-out groundout brought home Inciarte.

In the sixth, Johan Carmago’s solo homer accounted for Atlanta’s other run. It went out on a line to left field. Sabathia immediately gave up a double to Charlie Culberson in the next at-bat, but Sabathia finished a nine-pitch battle with Dansby Swanson with a groundout to second base.

NEXT

The Yankees are off Thursday.

On Friday, Yankees righty Sonny Gray (5-6, 5.44 ERA) will face a yet-to-be announced Blue Jays starting pitcher at 7:07 p.m. in Toronto.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.