Yes, a masher was at the plate in Giancarlo Stanton and the bases were loaded in the bottom of the fifth. The Yankees had moved to within 3-1 when Stanton swung and missed at a first-pitch fastball from Reynaldo Lopez. The ball eluded catcher Kevan Smith and went to the backstop.
Gleyber Torres, the runner at third base, wasn’t thinking what might be with Stanton. He thought: “Ball to the backstop.” He broke for home.
Smith quickly recovered, turned and fired a one-hopper. Lopez covered the plate and made a pick any first baseman would have been proud of to nail Torres. For the White Sox, everything worked perfectly. Throw, pick, cover, tag.
“We’re aggressive on the bases,” said Torres, who would cause Yankee blood pressures to raise far higher in the seventh inning when he was spiked on the hand during a White Sox steal attempt. “I saw the opportunity to score and I was out. The catcher and pitcher made really good plays and I feel bad for that.”
The Yankees insisted no bad feelings were necessary over the play after the 4-1 White Sox win. Manager Aaron Boone had no problem with the aggressive try.
“Absolutely. The ball’s to the backstop and it just kind of bounces perfect and actually the throw by the catcher, he kind of pulls the throw which just falls right into a short hop where he’s diving,” Boone said. “So you don’t want to take chances in that situation but that’s kind of a fluky bounce that didn’t go the right way.”
It was an imperfect storm for the Yankees.
“You don’t expect a perfect bounce to him and a perfect throw like that. You can’t look back [at the play],” Stanton said. “If he safe it’s a great job, if he’s not you look at all the negatives. It’s a good read. Sucks in that situation. Can’t expect a perfect play like that all the time.”
And regarding Torres, the Yolmer Sanchez spike to the base of his left thumb became more important later. With Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius still in various stages of rehabilitation, when Torres grabbed his hand, Boone no doubt considered the life of a farmer. But Torres, who was 2-for-4 at the plate, stayed in the game.
“It’s nothing important, nothing bad … it’s pretty good,” Torres said of the cut received when catcher Austin Romine threw out Sanchez. “It’s pretty good.”
“He’s OK,” Boone said. “He got spiked on the thumb there just a little bit more [than] just a cut, but yeah I think he’s fine.”