The Yankees went into tonight’s game on a high, trying to beat their division rivals and their 10th straight win. Though Luis Severino had strikeout stuff and the offense could attack Yusei Kikuchi, the bullpen just couldn’t hold on to the 8-3 lead, allowing Toronto to sneak away with a win in the series.
After DJ LeMahieu flew out to the right to start the game, Aaron Judge worked a walk away from Kikuchi. Josh Donaldson was then hit by a pitch and angrily slammed his bat into the dirt, though the ball barely seemed to touch his jersey. Kikuchi managed to hit Giancarlo Stanton with a swing, but with Gleyber Torres at-bat catcher, Alejandro Kirk threw first and brought out Donaldson to end the inning.
While the Yankees missed their scoring chance in the first game, the Blue Jays didn’t. While Luis Severino made the struggling George Springer fly out, he then went four pitches with Bo Bichette. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed up with a crushed line drive home run and quickly made it 2-0.
Sevy then went to Kirk but beat Teoscar Hernández and Santiago Espinal to keep him there.
The 2-0 lead didn’t last long. Torres had to start his at-bat in the second round and made the most of it, hitting a solo shot to left field.
Kikuchi hit Aaron Hicks – he missed badly on the inside, as did the Donaldson HBP. Unfortunately, Kyle knocked out Higashioka, then the Jays executed a strikeout double play when Marwin Gonzalez did the same and Hicks got kicked out trying to steal second base.
Sevy had a bounce back second inning with two strikeouts, although Joey Gallo needed a nice running catch to take a double from Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Ultimately, Kikuchi couldn’t stop the baserunners from scoring in the third goal. Gallo took a walk to lead the inning and advanced to second place on a LeMahieu floor. Kikuchi got a fastball from Judge to hit him. Donaldson, who had already earned plenty of boos with his first-inning antics, got even more by smashing a home run and launching a hearty bat flip. If you want to be a nuisance, Josh, do it!
Severino threw a goalless third and worked around a step by Guerrero. Kikuchi did the same in the fourth, working around a Torres leadoff single.
After Sevy threw a clean fourth, Kikuchi was replaced at the top of fifth by Adam Cimber. Gallo left immediately, then LeMahieu put down a blatant single. Judge extended the lead with an RBI double to drive in Gallo, his first hit of the day. Cimber knocked out Donaldson and Stanton with high fastballs but couldn’t get the red-hot Torres, who hit another double to bag two more and make it 6-2.
Springer was finally able to break his long hitless streak at the end of the fifth with a solo home run to make it 6:3. However, the Yankees quickly got that run back after Higashioka hit a solo shot 426 feet from Max Castillo and made his MLB debut. Then they pinned another, with a very similar looking homer by Marwin Gonzalez.
Despite a high pitch count, Severino was allowed to start the sixth inning but was pulled and replaced by Miguel Castro after allowing Guerrero and Kirk to reach. Castro hit two outs and then went to Matt Chapman. Gurriel followed by smashing a grand slam, suddenly making it a one-run game. Wandy Peralta came in and was able to get Springer out to end the rally.
Yimi Garcia grounded the Yankees in a row in the seventh, including swinging strikeouts from Stanton and Torres. Torres and Garcia appeared to yell at each other as they left the field.
Unfortunately, Peralta couldn’t hold the one-run lead. After Bichette grabbed an infield single and Kirk walked, Teoscar Hernández hit a home run into midfield to put the Blue Jays back in front and level at 10-8.
However, these Yankees are not giving up. Anthony Rizzo, having the day off, hit Higashioka with an out in eighth and faced Tim Mayza. He was the winner of the lefty-lefty matchup, sending a solo home run to the right and reducing the deficit to one run.
Gonzalez then isolated. Manager Aaron Boone pressed Jose Trevino for Gallo, who left. Toronto closer Jordan Romano was brought in to try and secure a five-out save. He got the first two of those outs and finished the inning, getting LeMahieu to fly out and hit Judge.
Ron Marinaccio threw a scoreless eighth and left it to the offensive. Donaldson went in search, followed by a walk to Stanton. Torres flew into midfield and left it to Rizzo, who ended the game – and the nine-game winning streak. It was always a challenge for the Yankees to beat the Blue Jays in Toronto; It’s just a bit disappointing that they had the chance and lost the lead. But this was the first game of the whole year where their pitching team gave up 10 runs and they almost tied it again anyway. They’ll settle for the road series win and 49-17 record.
The Yankees take on the Tampa Bay Rays tomorrow at Tropicana Field, with Gerrit Cole taking on Shane McClanahan. The first pitch is at 7:10 p.m. ET.
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