Gleyber Torres the hero while red-hot Yankees beat Blue Jays

TORONTO — The Yankees have been waiting for old Gleyber Torres to show up for more than two years.

He gave another hint he could be getting closer against the Blue Jays on Monday when he drove in all three heats in a 3-2 win at the Rogers Centre.

And it helped the Yankees win their 10th straight game. They also won 12 of 13 to open a 2 1/2 game lead over second-placed Toronto in the AL East.

Torres started the Yankees offense with a two-run homer in the fourth inning and delivered the winning run at the top of the ninth with an RBI single with two outs.

Chad Green saved with a scoreless ninth place.

The victorious rally began with a single by Giancarlo Stanton versus Yimi Garcia.

Tim Locastro Pinch ran for Stanton and stole second place at the plate with Josh Donaldson. Donaldson landed on the floor and Aaron Hicks followed up with a strikeout to bring Torres, whose base hit up the middle easily landed the fast Locastro.

The win was just the latest for a Yankee team that came into play on Monday after winning three straight series.

And they brought their full list north of the border after concerns it wouldn’t be due to the possibility that some players might not be vaccinated against COVID.

It almost wasn’t enough on Monday when the Yankees’ offense fell silent after Torres’ homer that gave them a 2-0 lead in the fourth game.

Jordan Montgomery was outstanding for much of his five-plus innings, but he gave up two four-hit runs late in the fourth inning to allow the Blue Jays to level the game.

Jonathan Loaisiga, Miguel Castro and Clay Holmes tied the game.

Montgomery got off to a good start, helped by great play from Stanton’s glove in the second.

With an out, Matt Chapman rocketed into the wall, but Stanton made a superb jump hold to rob Chapman of an extra base hit for the second out.

The Yankees missed a scoring chance in the third game when Isiah Kiner-Falefa took the lead with a double and moved up to third after DJ LeMahieu’s infield hit. But with runners on the corners and an out, Aaron punched out Judge and after LeMahieu nicked for second, Anthony Rizzo flew left.

The Yankees took the lead in the top of the fourth.

Donaldson hit with an out and Torres’ homer with two outs in backfield gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead. It was Torres’ third home run of the season and second in four games.

The Yankees’ offense went silent after Torres blew up. Kiner-Falefa reached from an error before Toronto Pitchers retired 13 straight batters – until Stanton’s single in the ninth.

The Blue Jays returned at the end of the fourth pitch when George Springer took the lead with a single and Bo Bichette’s double hit the left to make it 2-1.

Bichette advanced to third with a groundout from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and hit the center with a Chapman single to level the game 2-2.

Toronto threatened a leadoff single from Bichette in the sixth that ended Montgomery’s night.

Loaisiga stepped up and led Vladimir Guerrero Jr. four squares before the right-hander brought Gurriel to a double and Chapman to bat.

Castro entered in the seventh and walked with Alejandro Kirk. After right-hander Santiago Espinal and Raimel Tapia were eliminated, Tyler Heineman doubled down the right-field line and sent Kirk into third place.

Holmes came in to confront Springer, causing him to go down.

In the eighth round, Holmes conceded one-out hits to Guerrero and Gurriel before Chapman hit in a double play.