Yankees News: Gleyber Torres benched, Marcus Stroman dud, Gerrit Cole update

Aaron Boone did it, New York Yankees fans. He did it! He benched a player in the heat of the moment because of an obvious transgression on the field. And it couldn't have been more fitting that Gleyber Torres was the victim.

During Friday night's 8-5 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, which, by the way, continued the Yankees' home spiral (6-16 in their last 22, worst stretch since 1917), Torres dug his own grave by not hustling and then costing his team a run.

After lacing a ball to left field, Torres admired it out of the box and didn't hustle to first base. It wasn't a home run, though. It was played off the wall and Torres was held to a single. With two outs in the bottom of the second, Anthony Volpe ripped a ball into the left field corner and Torres was on his horse.

But because Torres was unable to make a play for second base on his hit earlier, he was thrown out at the plate on a nice relay from the Blue Jays (and now leads all of MLB with five baserunning outs at home, in addition to the most errors at second base). That ended the inning, and Boone wasted no time. Torres was pulled from the game after his first at-bat in favor of Oswaldo Cabrera. Boone let Torres play defense in the top of the third, and then yanked him when he returned to the dugout.

Torres tried to plead his case in the dugout, but Boone overruled him. That was it. Torres, realizing the damage was done, was clearly remorseful for his lack of hustle and awareness. He handled the situation professionally in the postgame, as did Boone. Round of applause to everyone involved here, honestly. Yankees fans sure do a lot of complaining, but most were satisfied with how this went down.

Everybody wants Gleyber Torres to succeed. Everybody wants Aaron Boone to be an effective and well-liked manager. Times like these are how we can get closer to that reality, even if it feels too little too late.

Yankees News: Gleyber Torres benched, Marcus Stroman dud, Gerrit Cole update

In the end, though, Torres' gaffe might not have loomed that large. Marcus Stroman once again put up a terrible outing, and it's becoming a legitimate problem, especially after the Yankees opted not to upgrade the rotation at the trade deadline.

Stroman got tagged for seven earned runs on eight hits and a walk in just 2 2/3 innings. And it's not like he was facing a juggernaut offense. The Blue Jays have been one of the worst teams in MLB. The veteran right-hander is legitimately killing the bullpen with his recent performance.

He hasn't thrown a quality start since June 22. He hasn't lasted seven or more innings since May 31. He's pitched fewer than five innings in three of his last four outings. His ERA now sits at 4.10 and he has an unsightly 5.17 FIP. This very much needs to stop, though, because the Yankees are paying for it dearly.

Thankfully, however, Carlos Rodón and Luis Gil have been good. And that little Gerrit Cole scare Yankees fans had earlier in the week is no more. The right-hander told the media he was on track to start Sunday after throwing a bullpen on Friday. He said he felt better after being scratched Tuesday with "general body fatigue."

Cole was said to be battling a stomach virus, which affected him over the last week to the point where he was held out of his most recent scheduled start against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Yankees swept the series anyway, but fans were worried something else was afoot with Cole, given how dishonest the team usually is with injury updates. Cole's preseason elbow injury will continue to have fans on their toes, regardless if everything is going well.

The reigning Cy Young winner will either guide the Yanks to a series win to close out the weekend or be tasked with helping them avoid the sweep against the division-rival Jays. We'll see how Saturday goes first.