NEW YORK (AFP) – The New York Yankees set a record for home runs hit in a single Major League Baseball season on Saturday, Gleyber Torres delivering the record-breaking blast in the fourth inning against the Red Sox in Boston.
Torres’s two-run homer off Red Sox lefthanded hurler Eduardo Rodriguez was the Yankees’ 265th this season, eclipsing the previous record of 264 hit by the 1997 Seattle Mariners.
Torres clenched his right fist as he rounded the bases after a shot that put the Yanks up 4-1.
‘‘I feel really good, really happy,’’ Torres said. ‘‘It’s not just me – all the guys did a really good job. I’m happy for the opportunity to hit the homer.’’
The Yankees weren’t done yet, however. Giancarlo Stanton, who leads the team with 38 homers, hit No. 266 in the seventh inning of the 8-5 victory.
One Red Sox fans was so unimpressed that he hurled Stanton’s home run ball back onto the field – where it bounced off the ground and hit the Yankees player as he rounded second base.
‘‘I wouldn’t have thought it got to me that fast with a fan throwing it,’’ Stanton said. ‘‘I’ve never seen it happen before, so that wasn’t my first thought.’’
The Yankees hit four home runs in Friday’s series opener to equal Seattle’s mark, with Gary Sanchez, Aaron Hicks, Luke Voit and Aaron Judge all going long.
That 11-6 victory assured the Yankees will host the Oakland Athletics in the American League wild card game.
Stanton reached the 100 runs-batted-in plateau as the Yankees notched their 100th win of the season to become part of an historic treble.
For the first time, three teams in the same league have notched 100 wins as the Yankees joined American League rivals Boston (107) and Houston (102) in hitting the century mark.
Miguel Andujar vaulted past legendary Joe DiMaggio with his club rookie record 45th double off Brandon Workman in the fifth, a two-run effort that put New York up 6-2.
Andujar added another double in the top of the ninth to further distance himself from the Yankees rookie record of 44 set by DiMaggio in 1936.
‘‘Just to have my name associated with Joe DiMaggio, it feels good,’’ said Andujar, who is within one double of tying Fred Lynn’s American League record for double-baggers by a rookie set with the 1975 Red Sox.
‘‘I feel good for that,’’ Andujar said. ‘‘I’m looking forward.’’
