Gleyber Torres has spent much of his career terrorizing the Orioles with his bat. On Tuesday, the New York Yankees infielder added his legs to the mix.

After hitting a two-run homer in the opening inning, Torres scored from first on a single for the tiebreaking run in the fifth of what became an 8-4 victory for the Yankees. The defeat was the Orioles’ sixth loss in seven games and ensured they will leave New York with no better than a split in this four-game matchup.

Including this one, Baltimore (49-35) has won only four of its past 12 series, going 16-18 in that span. With five games left before the All-Star break, the Orioles’ lead on the Yankees (48-38) for the American League’s top wild-card spot is down to two games.

Down 3-0 early, the Orioles rallied in top of the fifth on home runs by Aaron Hicks and Adam Frazier bookending a double from rookie Jordan Westburg, who returned to the lineup after missing Monday’s game with a sore left hand. Hicks’ solo shot, coming in his second game at Yankee Stadium since New York released him in May, was preceded and followed by a collection of boos.

With two outs in the bottom half, Orioles starter Kyle Gibson walked Torres then allowed a single up the middle to Giancarlo Stanton. Center fielder Cedric Mullins charged the ball and threw to second, but Torres didn’t stop running and scored easily.

It was the last of the four runs Gibson allowed in six innings, a relative bounce-back after the veteran right-hander allowed 11 runs in 7 2/3 innings across his previous two starts.

Gibson’s Fourth of July afternoon began with a walk, and Torres followed by hammering a cutter to left field. Largely thanks to his 13 home runs against Baltimore in 2019 — the most by any player against one team since 1961 — Torres has 21 career home runs off Orioles pitchers, accounting for nearly a fifth of his career total. Gibson allowed only two hits the rest of his outing, though the Yankees scored without one in the fourth on a walk, hit batter, groundout and sacrifice fly.

Torres helped break the game open off the Orioles’ bullpen in the seventh. After Jose Trevino homered off Nick Vespi, Torres doubled to left. Vespi intentionally walked Stanton before giving way to Bryan Baker, who allowed both runners to score on a double by Harrison Bader, who hit a game-winning three-run homer in Monday’s series opener. In the eighth, left-hander Bruce Zimmermann, an Ellicott City native recalled before the game, allowed an unearned run after his own fielding error.

After the home runs in the fifth, Baltimore’s offense struggled to break through again. The Orioles left the bases loaded in the sixth. In the ninth, Westburg singled, went to third on a double by Ramón Urías and scored on a groundout by James McCann, but the rally ended there.

This story will be updated.

Orioles at Yankees

Wednesday, 7:05 p.m.

TV: MASN

Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM

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