Yankees’ Gleyber Torres outsmarts shift, scores after Astros leave third and home wide open
May 7, 2021 | News | No Comments
Gleyber Torres doesn’t really give a shift.
The Yankees shortstop beat the Astros shift for an infield single in the eighth, then he burned it for a run on another in the Yankees’ 7-4 loss to the Astros.
Torres had the most unusual and smartest run scored yet this season because of simple observation and guile.
While on first base with Aaron Hicks hitting, the Astros shifted their infield to the right, leaving third baseman Alex Bregman to cover the entire left side. Hicks hit a ground ball to shortstop Carlos Correa that got behind second base, where Torres had already pulled in.
“At the moment when he hit the ball, I run to second base and see Bregman on the base, so I see I got an opportunity to move to third,” Torres said. “So I’m just running to third.”
Correa attempted to flip the ball to Bregman, but he ran over to cover second. Catcher Martin Maldonado, who was sprinting up the third base line, was nowhere near third.
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Torres, seeing Maldonado chugging up the line without the ball, put his head down and out sprinted the catcher to the plate as the Astros stood and watched in disbelief.
“I know Maldonado is trying to cover the base, but in that moment, I remember when I was coming to second base, I saw the pitcher stayed on the mound,” Torres said. “So in that moment, I know nobody’s on the home plate. So I just keep running, I believed Maldonado cannot run back to the home plate. So take advantage of the opportunity.”
It was a heads-up play by Torres, who ran through third base coach Phil Nevin’s stop sign, which he said he only saw on a video replay of the run, and confused not only the Astros’ defense, but the Yankees dugout.
Even Aaron Boone was confused at first, but impressed with how Torres managed it.
“It was great,” the Yankees manager said. “Obviously as an infielder he’s aware of shifts and the different predicaments you can get yourself in on some different balls. So, it’s an incredible heads up play by Gleyber.”
