A week after the New York Yankees were absolutely demolished by the Boston Red Sox, James Paxton and Gleyber Torres help get revenge.
- New York Yankees 4 (69-39)
- Boston Red Sox 2 (59-52)
- AL East, Final, Box Score
- Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
Another quality start by a New York Yankees pitcher was just put forth after it seems like only a week since the sky was falling on the rotation. Yet, despite Brian Cashman making no moves, the team managed to produce two quality starts in a row.
James Paxton may have recorded a quality start when all was said and done, but it was much more than that. After surrendering a first-inning two-run shot to J.D. Martinez, Paxton locked it down.
The key to Paxton’s success was how well he mixed his pitches. Coming into this start, the lefty threw his fastball over 60% of the time. This time around, he featured a strong curveball that he threw 19 times.
His fastball will always be his bread and butter, but the increased use of his off-speed pitches kept Boston hitters off-balance all night.
The Yankees offense was provided entirely in the first inning. Gleyber Torres saw Martinez’s two-run shot and said, “Anything you can do, I can do twice as well.” He then proceeded to hit a rocket for his second career grand slam.
GLEYBER DAY! GLEYBER DAY! Gleyber Torres hammers a grand slam to give the Yankees a 4-2 lead! #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/HKqvFMr207
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) August 2, 2019
Somehow, this highlight doesn’t do the homer justice. So here’s a different angle of Torres providing every bit of the team’s offense by himself.
A gleyber good time.. a GRAND SLAMMM for @TorresGleyber look at the swag yall #yankees #nyy #pinstripepride pic.twitter.com/15DyjbZ2tu
— JoezMcfly?? (@JoezMcfLy) August 3, 2019
Tommy Kahnle, Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman combined to maintain Paxton’s gem.
The most important thing to come out of this game is that the Yankees set the tone for the series. With a doubleheader coming up, they’ll need the starters to work deep into the games.
Savage of the Game - Gleyber Torres
I really wanted to give this one to Paxton. He threw a great game and pitching savages are in short supply these days. However, Gleyber Torres literally put the team on his back and that’s about as savage as it gets.
