BALTIMORE — Before the Yankees improved to 20 games over .500 and put on Drake’s “Passionfruit” — their postgame clubhouse victory song — they had to survive a scare.
Gleyber Torres, their 21-year-old super rookie, got hit with a pitch on the right wrist in the sixth inning of their 8-5 victory over the lowly Orioles on Saturday.
Torres looked to be in significant pain at the time. But after a visit from the trainer, he stayed in the game.
The Bombers (37-17) are on a 111-win pace through the first third of the season. So at this point it’s just about maintaining consistency and staying healthy.
They lead the majors in runs, homers and OPS.
Their lineup, 1 through 9, is relentless.
When some guys slump, other guys step up.
On Saturday, it was Giancarlo Stanton’s turn.
Stanton has mostly underperformed since coming to New York — relative to massive salary and the added expectations that followed after the blockbuster deal with Miami — especially against right-handed pitching. He entered Saturday’s game with a .602 OPS against righties.
But in his second at-bat against Baltimore righty Kevin Gausman, Stanton got a 95-mph fastball out over the plate — in his wheelhouse — and blasted it over the right-field wall for his first homer in 11 games.
Stanton’s hitting mechanics in his unorthodox closed stance — which allowed him to win NL MVP honors last season — have been out of whack with righties on the mound.
Of course, Stanton has had a good game or two before, only to go back into a funk. So even he’s not making too much of this. And the Bombers have been just fine without him producing at an All-Star caliber clip.
But after all those years of being on all those terrible Marlins teams, this feels good.
The Yankees got another multi-hit performance from Miguel Andujar, who leads all rookies with 26 extra-base hits.
Aaron Hicks, who had been in the Twitter doghouse, notched three hits. Brett Gardner and Didi Gregorius contributed two hits apiece. Meanwhile, Torres and the struggling Gary Sanchez each went 0-fer.
The Bombers, though, are capable of playing better baseball. They can clean up their act defensively and on the bases. Their starting pitching, as inconsistent as it has been behind Luis Severino, is capable of getting deeper into games. On Saturday, Masahiro Tanaka surrendered three homers.
Nevertheless, they’ve been more than good enough on most nights. And just imagine if they were able to get someone like Madison Bumgarner to complement Severino at the top of the rotation.
Since starting 9-9, the Yankees are 28-8. They’ve won 11 of their last 12 completed series.
Of course, the Red Sox — despite Mookie Betts and Dustin Pedroia recently going on the disabled list — are playing just as well. So it’s going to be a fight to the finish, an all-out effort to avoid a matchup with a Shohei Ohtani or a James Paxton in the do-or-die AL wild card game.
Therefore, the Yankees need to keep it up — staying hot with the bats and staying healthy.
Maybe they’ll even get some consistency out of Giancarlo Stanton. Eventually.