Rookie second baseman Gleyber Torres hogged the spotlight on Friday as he delivered his first major-league home run for the Yankees. The three-run shot came off of a first-pitch curveball from the Indians Josh Tomlin, sailing well over the center field wall to give the Yankees a leg up in the fourth inning.
Torres’ blast snapped a personal homer-less streak of 46 plate appearances this spring. It set off a chain reaction throughout the Yankees’ lineup, too, boosting the team to a 5-0 lead with another solo shot from Aaron Judge (his eighth of 2018) in the fourth and a 461-footer from Gary Sanchez (his ninth) in the fifth.
The Indians eventually pushed back, however, finally catching a break against the bullpen in the eighth inning. Bradley Zimmer cranked his second home run of the season, a 402-foot drive to center field that scored Yan Gomes and Rajai Davis. Jose Ramirez delivered the game-tying knock with a two-run shot off of David Robertson to tie the game 5-5.
