NEW YORK – On a tough day for runs, Gleyber Torres‘ ninth inning home run had rewarded another strong effort by Yankees‘ ace Gerrit Cole at Yankee Stadium.
But after the Yankees’ sudden 2-1 victory in Sunday’s doubleheader opener, Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward sniffed that his club was walked off by a Little League long ball.
“That’s an easy out in 99 percent of ballparks,” Woodward said of the 3-and-1 sinker by lefty John King that made the Yanks winners in 12 of their last 13 games. “(Torres) just happened to hit it in a Little League ballpark to right field.”
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In reality, Torres’ drive traveled 369 feet, as estimated by Statcast, and would have been a homer in 25 other big-league ballparks.
“His math is wrong, 99 percent is impossible,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone quipped. “There’s only 30 parks.”
Naturally, in the nightcap, Rangers’ No. 9 hitter Eli White‘s first homer of the year was a 342-foot shot that dropped into the first row of right field seats – the only run yielded by Jordan Montgomery in six innings.
“That’s an easy out in 99% of ballparks. … He just happened to hit it in a Little League ballpark to right field.”
Rangers manager Chris Woodward on Gleyber Torres’ walk-off home run at Yankee Stadium 🍿 pic.twitter.com/DeHVAyPuM2
— Sporting News MLB (@sn_mlb) May 8, 2022
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rangers manager calls Yankee Stadium ‘Little League ballpark’