Gleyber the hero after Yanks turn triple play

NEW YORK -- In a week that has already featured a Corey Kluber no-hitter, the Yankees opened their homestand by turning a triple play and celebrating a Gleyber Torres walk-off hit. What will they do for an encore?

A half-inning after third baseman Gio Urshela started the club’s first triple play since 2014, Torres lashed a deciding single into left field, securing a 2-1 victory over the White Sox on Friday night at Yankee Stadium. It marked the Bombers’ third consecutive home game with a walk-off.

“We felt like we were playing a postseason game,” Torres said. “We played really good baseball tonight. It was great. This is the type of game we enjoy; we always try to come back and win the game. That is the mentality for the Yankees right now.”

Torres came through with the deciding knock off Evan Marshall, two innings after the shortstop shattered a scoreless tie by clearing the short right-field porch with an opposite-field home run facing reliever Michael Kopech. Torres said he didn’t quite barrel the ball, and his 345-foot drive had enough juice to exit only one ballpark: Yankee Stadium.

“The crowd was into that game,” said manager Aaron Boone. “It was real tight, back and forth, and a very well-pitched game where there weren’t a lot of opportunities. You’ve got to be able to win these games, and it’s not always going to be easy.”

Contact was historically scarce through the first seven innings, with Chicago’s Carlos Rodón and New York’s Jordan Montgomery combining for 24 strikeouts -- 13 for Rodón and 11 for Montgomery, both career highs.

“That’s what I expect out of myself,” Montgomery said. “To go out there, set the tone, give our team a chance. And we won the game, so it was a fun one tonight.”

Nick Madrigal tied the game in the eighth with an excuse-me, opposite-field RBI single off Jonathan Loaisiga, and the Yankees were dismissed from a two-on, none-out opportunity in the eighth as Tyler Wade was thrown out at the plate and Luke Voit lined hard into a double play.

“There were some winning at-bats at the end, even in the inning where we left the runners out there,” Boone said.

Before departing on a 7-3 road trip, the Yankees celebrated walk-off wins over the Nationals, won on hits by Torres and Giancarlo Stanton.

“Every time I get that opportunity, I forget what I did the game before,” Torres said. “I’m just focused on that moment. I just focus and keep it simple -- try to help my team and just put the ball in play. I think that helps me a lot in those kinds of situations.”

Triple threat
The Yankees were in trouble in the ninth, as closer Aroldis Chapman appeared in danger of permitting his first earned run of the season.

Chapman issued a leadoff walk to Yermín Mercedes and committed an error fielding a sacrifice-bunt attempt, with pinch-runner Billy Hamilton advancing to second base as Leury García reached safely.

Urshela’s quick thinking helped turn three, reacting instinctively on Andrew Vaughn’s hard grounder to the left side of the infield. Urshela gloved the ball, stepped on third and fired to Rougned Odor at second base. Odor completed the turn with a strike to first baseman Voit.

“It was so exciting,” Chapman said through an interpreter. “That’s one of those plays that you don’t see every day, a triple play. [Urshela] got me out of that hole -- runners at first and second, nobody out and Hamilton at second base. We fought until the end.”

Before Friday, the Yanks’ most recent triple play came on April 17, 2014, in a 10-2 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field: third baseman Yangervis Solarte to second baseman Brian Roberts to first baseman Scott Sizemore.

The Jordan rules
Continuing a string of terrific pitching performances that featured Kluber’s no-hitter over the Rangers earlier in the week, Montgomery tossed seven dazzling frames, settling for a no-decision as the lefty extended the Bombers’ scoreless streak to 29 consecutive innings.

"He pitched,” White Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “He took advantage of our aggressiveness a couple of times with chasing pitches. He didn't throw much in the middle. I give him credit.”

According to STATS, it marked the first time in the modern era that both starting pitchers had 10 or more strikeouts while allowing no walks and no runs.

“We’re playing good baseball right now,” Montgomery said. “I’m just kind of relieved to get the job done. I believed in myself fully and I executed pitches.”