NEW YORK — Gleyber Torres' playing time has been unpredictable lately, but the Yankees' second baseman has tried to stay ready for any opportunity as best he can. 

He came through in a big one Saturday. 

Pinch-hitting in the bottom of the ninth, Torres hit a two-out, walk-off single to send the Yankees to a 5-4 victory over the Cleveland Guardians before a crowd of 39,180 at Yankee Stadium. 

"During the game, I was just back in the cage trying to be ready, do my routine and just be ready for an opportunity," Torres said. "I got an opportunity and I feel so happy to do the job and help my team."

The inning started with Cleveland reliever Emmanuel Clase walking Josh Donaldson before pinch-runner Tim Locastro stole second base.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who continued his hot hitting with his fifth multi-hit game in his last nine games, then drove him in with a game-tying double to left. 

That brought up Torres, who was hitting for Kyle Higashioka. 

"I’m proud of him," manager Aaron Boone said. "Obviously hasn’t played a couple of the games lately. But his work hasn’t suffered at all. In fact it’s been maybe better. He was prepared and ready for the spot, and delivered."

There was also some late-inning drama that involved the fans. 

Guardians left-fielder Steven Kwan ran into the wall trying to field Kiner-Falefa's double. While he was being tended to by a trainer, centerfielder Myles Straw climbed the left-field fence and was jawing with a fan. 

Then after Torres' hit, fans in right field started throwing garbage onto the field toward Straw and rightfielder Oscar Mercado. 

Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton ran toward the wall trying to get the fans to stop. 

Boone didn't have all the details immediately following the game, but made it clear that it's a situation that can't happen. 

"I’ll get more clarity on it here in a little bit," Boone said. "But obviously you certainly don’t want to put anyone in danger. Love the intensity but can’t be throwing stuff out on the field."

It was a bizarre ending to a wild game. 

Nestor Cortes once again delivered another strong outing for the Yankees, throwing 6⅓ solid innings. 

His lone mistake came in the fifth when he surrendered a two-run homer to Josh Naylor, the only hit he allowed. 

Cortes, who walked two and struck out eight in the 91-pitch outing, kept the Guardians off balance through the early innings with movement and command. 

He also helped himself out with a nice defensive play with one out in the fourth. Kwan hit a grounder to first that Anthony Rizzo fielded and tossed to Cortes, who was racing Kwan to the bag. Cortes dove and stretched his glove to the base, just barely beating Kwan. 

"I kind of saw the ground ball late, so I had to make up some ground," Cortes said. "I knew the only way to get him out was to dive. I’m happy it worked."

Cleveland got to Cortes in the fifth.

Cortes walked Amed Rosario with one out, and then threw a 77-mph slider that Josh Naylor deposited into the right-field stands for a two-run home run. 

Those were the first runs Cortes gave up this season — he had thrown 13⅓ consecutive scoreless innings until that point. 

"I thought he was really sharp today," Boone said. 

Cortes' offense picked him up in the bottom of the fifth. 

Guardians starter Cal Quantrill walked Aaron Hicks with one out before allowing a single to Joey Gallo, who had just one hit in his previous 20 at-bats. 

Kiner-Falefa drove Hicks in with an RBI single before Gallo scored on a sacrifice fly from Kyle Higashioka.

Donaldson put the Yankees up 3-2 with a solo blast in the seventh inning, his second home run of the season. 

That lead was short lived before Austin Hedges, the Guardians' No. 9 hitter who struck out in his first two at-bats, hit a two-run homer off Chad Green in the eighth. 

The Yankees fought back in the bottom of the ninth. 

"For him to come through and stay ready I think that showed a lot of character and the type of player he is," Kiner-Falefa said.

The Yankees are still waiting to see the dominant version of their ace. 

Through three starts so far, Cole hasn't pitched close to that level. Pitching to a 6.35 ERA, the right-hander in his last outing in Detroit pitched just 1½ innings in the shortest start of his career. He walked three batters (he walked five total) in the second inning. 

Cole, who starts Sunday's series finale against the Guardians at the Stadium, spent time between starts working on "small adjustments."

"We were going really perfect pitches I think, probably too often," Cole said. "I think that in certain situations if I had just attacked the zone better I would’ve been in a better spot. That’s what we worked on this week and what we’re taking into the next game."

Boone has been steadfast that he believes Cole will be fine and ultimately have a "big year." 

He'll have a chance to turn that around on Sunday. 

"Specifically last game I wasn’t able to see that pathway back into the strike zone," Cole said. "I was having obviously some struggles commanding it, just in general. I think that a common theme for when I’ve kind of fallen off track is being behind in counts and then being forced into a position to be overaggressive."

Chris Iseman is the Rutgers football beat writer for the USA TODAY Network-New Jersey. For unlimited access to all Rutgers analysis, news and more, please subscribe today and download our app. 

Email: iseman@northjersey.com Twitter: @chrisiseman