Gleyber Torres returns to Yankees lineup one day after benching: ‘Key cog’

A day later, all eyes were on Gleyber Torres — including the approving eyes of Aaron Boone.

Torres was back in the lineup, hustled and went 1-for-4 with a walk during Saturday’s 8-3 win over the Blue Jays in The Bronx after getting pulled for not running hard three innings into the previous night’s loss.

It was a one-day punishment for Torres, who Boone said handled it well.

Effort was on display especially in the fifth inning, when Torres (who had singled) sprinted to second base on a Jazz Chisholm Jr. ground ball to first.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. picked up the ball, dropped it, stepped on the base and threw to second base a split-second too late, Torres sliding in safely.

Yankees ‘extremely impressed’ by converted pitcher Brett Phillips: ‘Certainly intrigued’

“Really hot day today,” Boone said. “I thought the guys got after it.”

Boone, on Friday unhappy with Torres’ effort on a play in which he crushed a pitch off the left-field wall that became a long single — which burned the Yankees when Torres was thrown out at home on an Anthony Volpe double — was happy with the way Torres responded.

In the immediate aftermath Friday, Torres returned to the dugout and cheered on his teammates.

After that night’s loss to the Blue Jays, Torres accepted responsibility in a media session and apologized to fans and teammates.

Aaron Judge’s Yankees homer leads to surprise early intentional walk

“He is an enormous part of this team, a key cog in what we’re doing,” Boone said. “As I’ve told him, if we’re going to get to where we want to go, he’s an important part of that.”

Boone did not offer a whole lot more clarity about the reasoning behind a benching that he called a “gray area” and “nuanced.”

It was not simply about a hitter not sprinting to first base on a ball that hitter believed would be a home run; Boone (and the other 29 MLB managers) would have to bench just about everyone if such an action was punished.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR STARTING LINEUP NEWSLETTER

“I felt convicted and strongly in that moment that I needed to do that,” said Boone, who also had sat down a slumping Torres after he did not run out a ground ball in a June game against the Mets. “I’m not peeling the onion back too much for you.”

Boone did acknowledge that “it was certainly a message,” and it sounds as if it was one sent to more than just Torres.

Friday, Aaron Judge said Boone’s hook showed that “if you’re not doing your job, you’re going to be out of there.”

Boone trusts that Torres — and the other eight players in the starting lineup — would do his job from now on.

“It’s really as simple as I felt in that moment [Friday] night that I needed to do that for our team,” Boone said.

For the latest in sports, top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com/sports/