Gleyber Torres homers twice in same inning, Yankees pummel Pirates

Sept. 22 (UPI) -- All eyes might be on Aaron Judge's historic journey through the home run record book, but teammate Gleyber Torres recently got in on the longball trend, with two bombs in the same inning of a New York Yankees victory.

Torres torched the Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff in the eighth inning of the 14-2 blowout win Wednesday at Yankee Stadium in New York. The veteran second baseman went 3 for 4 with five RBIs, four runs scored and a walk.

"It was the first time that happened," Torres told YES Network. "It was amazing. It was special. We are playing really good baseball. I'm happy to continue to do something for my team."

Judge went 2 for 4 with two runs scored and a walk. The Yankees outfielder hit his 60th home run of the season Tuesday against the Pirates. That shot tied Judge with Babe Ruth for the second-most homers hit in a single season in Yankees history. He now eyes Roger Maris' record of 61 from the 1961 season.

The Yankees carried a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth. Torres led off the half inning against Pirates relief pitcher Miguel Yajure. Yajure missed the zone with a fastball to fall behind 1-0 in the count. Torres fouled off his next pitch. He then hit a 1-1 fastball to right field for a 355-foot solo homer.

Yajure followed that exchange with back-to-back walks issued to third baseman Josh Donaldson and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton. Outfielders Oswaldo Cabrera and Harrison Bader followed with RBI doubles, pushing the lead to 10-2.

Relief pitcher Eric Stout then struck out infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Yankees catcher Jose Trevino followed with an RBI double to left field. Stout walked Judge, threw a wild pitch and then forced first baseman Anthony Rizzo to fly out to center field.

Stout followed that exchange with a first-pitch strike to Torres. The Yankees slugger then crushed an 0-1 fastball to left field for a 398-foot, three-run homer.

Yankees starter Luis Severino allowed two hits and one run over five innings to improve to 6-3 this season. Pirates starter Roansy Contreras allowed six hits and six runs over 4 2/3 innings to drop to 5-5. The Pirates totaled just four hits.

Cabrera sparked the blowout early with a first-inning grand slam for the Yankees. He went 2 for 4 with five RBIs and two runs scored in the victory.

The Yankees (90-58) will host the rival Boston Red Sox (72-76) at 7:15 p.m. EDT Thursday at Yankee Stadium. The Pirates (55-94) will host the Chicago Cubs (64-85) at 6:35 p.m. Thursday in Pittsburgh.