Is the Yankees' Gleyber Torres ready to break out of prolonged hitting slump?
NEW YORK  Gleyber Torres seemed to find his long-lost hitting stroke  at least for one night  in the second game of the Yankees home series with the Angels. The shortstop went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, his first in more than three weeks, during Tuesdays slugfest win. That marked his first multi-hit game since June 10 at Minnesota  in between those two outings, he batted a paltry .078 (4-for-51) with 20 strikeouts. With Gleyber, when hes at his best, hes really strong in his lower half, Yankees manager Aaron Boone explained before Wednesdays showdown with Shohei Ohtani. [That] is something that allows him to be the kind of hitter he is, and to hit with the authority that he hits with.  Torres has been focusing on the foundation of his stance with hitting coaches Marcus Thames and PJ Pilittere. Boone hopes that will unlock (a favorite phrase of his) a player that is hitting .242, more than 20 points off his career average. We feel like thats the key that will really get him rolling again, Boone said. Its good to see him go out and get some results [Tuesday] night hopefully, he can continue to build on that.  MORE:Offense finally comes to life as Yankees end losing streak  Judge, Urshela rest  Wednesday was an off day for Aaron Judge and Gio Urshela, which broke a streak that was both short and rare. The Yankees used the exact same lineup in the first two games of the Angels series, marking the first time they had done so all season. Judge, who is on a four-game hit streak, leads the team in most offensive categories  as well as games played (75). At .285 and .272, respectively, he and Urshela carry two of New Yorks top three averages. Given the fact that the club was coming off an 11-run outburst that snapped a four-game skid, the move raised a few questions, if not eyebrows. Todays a very hard one with all were going through as a club, Boone said Wednesday afternoon. But I also have to, at times, keep the big picture in mind, especially with him and trying to make sure that we get him [playing] as much as possible.  Sitting Urshela allowed the manager to move DJ LeMahieu to third and start lefty hitting Rougned Odor at second against the right-handed Ohtani. Heat wave  Lefthander Jordan Montgomery (3-2, 4.06 ERA) is slated to start Thursdays series final against Los Angeles. After several consecutive days of 90-plus degree temps, the weather is expected to be in the low 80s with a 90 percent chance of thunderstorms. Montgomery, who grew up in South Carolina, is perfectly willing to deal with heat and/or humidity. My summer-ball team kind of got me ready for this, he said. Ive dealt with it before. You just kind of have to pound water and be ready for your hands to be slippery [from sweat] and just kind of grind it out.  That answer brought an obvious follow up about the MLB crackdown on sticky substance use by pitchers. Montgomery insists on a simple solution: Just wear long sleeves and wipe your hands down, he said flatly. Greg Tartaglia is a high school sports reporter for NorthJersey.com. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis from our Varsity Aces team, subscribe today. To get breaking news directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter and download our app. Email: tartaglia@northjersey.com  Twitter: @njtags13