In the first game of the doubleheader on Sunday afternoon, the New York Yankees took on the Texas Rangers after missing two consecutive days due to inclement weather. They stole the first game of the afternoon thanks to a Gleyber Torres’s 9th inning home run. However, Torres took advantage of a short right porch to help get the ball over the fence, but it had enough legs to clear most outfield walls in Major League Baseball.
Texas manager Chris Woodward took a shot at Yankee Stadium after the double-header, specifically because of its short right porch. The problem with that argument is that every other team in baseball can take advantage, but it is a big benefit for the Yankees since they actively try to find left-handed hitters to capitalize.
“That’s an easy out in 99% of ballparks… He just happened to hit it in a Little League ballpark.”
After Yankees manager Aaron Boone heard about Woodward’s comments, he had a response of his own, indicating that his math is a bit off.
Aaron Boone was asked if he had any thoughts on Chris Woodward’s comments that Gleyber Torres’ Game 1 home run would have been an out in “99 percent of ballparks.” Boone said, “not really,” but noted that Woodward’s “math is off” because there’s only 30 ballparks.
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) May 9, 2022
The truth is, Torres’s home run would’ve been out of the park in 26 of 30 stadiums. The ball traveled 369 feet. It does open up an interesting storyline for how other managers perceive Yankee Stadium and the advantage it gives in right field.
Nonetheless, the Yankees won 2–1 in Game 1 but dropped the second game 4–2, wasting a solid Jordan Montgomery performance. Monty allowed four hits and two runs over 6.0 innings. The offense simply wasn’t able to get going, tallying just three hits in the final game of the doubleheader.
The Bombers will now look ahead to Monday at 1:05 PM with Nestor Cortes on the mound. Cortes features a 1.82 ERA. Texas will feature Jon Gray as their starter, who hosts a 7.50 ERA over 12 innings, allowing 11 hits and two homers over that sample size.