Gleyber Torres drives in two runs as Yankees slip past Nationals, 3-2

In an afternoon that looked early on to be dominated by Patrick Corbin, Gleyber Torres put the Yankees on his back as the Yankees sneaked past the Nationals, 3-2.

Hitless coming into the day, Torres put on a show offensively, with three of the Yankees’ five hits, including a fourth-inning single that broke Corbin’s perfect game, a seventh-inning home run that knocked Corbin out of the game, and an eighth-inning RBI single that gave the Yankees the lead. A seventh-inning home run by Luke Voit off of Will Harris represented the only other offense for the Yankees on the day.

Fresh off a day in which they gave up six runs in seven innings, the Yankees’ bullpen rebounded well in today’s bullpen day. Jonathan Loaisiga, David Hale, Adam Ottavino, Chad Green, Tommy Kahnle, and Zack Britton combined to give up two runs on seven hits, striking out eight and walking four. Loaisiga’s only mistake on the afternoon in his three innings as the opener was a solo shot by Trea Turner with two outs in the third. Later, Kahnle pitched around runners on second and third with one out to preserve the lead in the bottom of the eighth, capping off the inning with a bases-loaded strikeout of Eric Thames.

Patrick Corbin put together a masterful performance for the Nationals, retiring the first eleven batters he faced and mowing through every Yankee batter not named Torres. In 6.1 innings, he recorded eight strikeouts, giving up only two hits and one run, and walking none. Having thrown only 75 pitches, Corbin looked to be on a complete game trajectory, but Nationals manager Dave Martinez had other ideas, removing him with one out in the seventh after giving up just his second hit of the day, a solo home run to Torres.

Defensive woes, however, almost cost the Yankees the game on three separate occasions. A misplay on a line drive by Voit that went through his legs gave the Nationals a 2-0 lead in the 4th. In the 8th, a throwing error by Torres sparked a brief Nationals rally that Kahnle barely escaped from, while in the ninth, a misplay by Torres and a passed ball put speedster Emilio Bonifacio on second base with nobody out. A fortunate turn of events, however, eliminated the threat.

Bonifacio beat the throw to third, but slid past the bag and was tagged out by Gio Urshela. Although Victor Robles walked on the play, Britton easily retired Yan Gomes and Michael Taylor to end the game.

Chad Green records the win, his first of the year, while Sean Doolittle gets tagged with the loss. Interim closer Zack Britton collects his first save of the season, the 146th of his career and seventh as a Yankee. Having opened the season by taking two of three from the reigning World Series champs — winning both games against some of the league’s best pitchers in the process — the Yankees now head to Philadelphia to begin a four-game, two-city set.

J.A. Happ gets the ball for the Yankees tomorrow against Jake Arrieta and the Phillies, who dropped two of three against the Miami Marlins. First pitch tomorrow is scheduled for 7:05 PM.