The Yankees took an early lead and never looked back in their 9-8 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night.
Here are the takeaways…
-After being shutout in their home opener on Friday for the first time since 1967, New York made sure to get off to a quick start on Saturday thanks to their 1-2 punch of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Soto worked a seven-pitch walk in front of Judge who followed by depositing an 0-2 splitter by Kevin Gausman over the left-center field wall that gave the Yanks a 2-0 lead.
Judge, who had been struggling to start the season but showed signs of breaking out in the final game of the series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, finished 2-for-3 with two RBI, and two walks to go along with his second home run of the season.
-Two batters after Judge’s home run, Giancarlo Stanton – going through his own slump at the plate – hit his second dinger of the season on a first-pitch fastball for a solo shot that made it 3-0. The drive to the opposite field was reviewed for potential fan interference, but the call on the field was upheld.
Stanton doubled his hit total for the season by going 3-for-4. He had previously gone 3-for-24 in his first six games.
-Staked to an early lead, starter Clarke Schmidt had a solid outing but was unable to factor into the decision after lasting just 4.1 innings. The right-hander allowed two earned runs on six hits, three walks and also struck out four on 91 pitches (58 strikes).
The runs Schmidt allowed came on a Justin Turner sacrifice fly in the third and an RBI groundout by Kevin Kiermaier in the fourth. Despite heavy traffic on the basepaths from the first batter of the game, the righty held the Blue Jays to 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. His night was over in the fifth after striking out Turner with a runner on first.
-The Yankees were able to chase Gausman out of the game in the second after the All-Star allowed three more runs in the inning.
Anthony Volpe reached on an error and stole second base, Austin Wells walked and Oswaldo Cabrera singled to load the bases with nobody out. Gleyber Torres drove in a run with a sacrifice fly before a passed ball brought home another run. Soto singled in the third run of the inning which gave New York a commanding 6-0 lead and was the end for Gausman, who owned the Yankees in the past.
–Anthony Rizzo joined in on the home run fun in the fifth inning with his first long ball of the season – a two-run shot – that extended New York’s lead to 8-2. Facing reliever Mitch White, the first baseman hooked a slider in on his hands inside the right-field foul pole. The home run was Rizzo’s only hit of the game (1-for-5) as he’s still batting .222 for the year, but it was good to see him get his first of the season.
-Pitching in his third inning of relief, Luke Weaver was tagged for three runs in the seventh after allowing a home run, double, walk, double and sacrifice fly that brought Toronto to within four runs and made it 9-5. He was replaced by Victor Gonzalez and allowed three earned runs on three hits and a walk in 2.0 innings.
-Gonzalez, Ian Hamilton and Clay Holmes pitched the final 2.2 innings and after a scare in the ninth where they allowed three runs, New York was able to hang on for the 9-8 win.
Game MVP: Giancarlo Stanton
Stanton broke out in a big way which is encouraging to see out of the Yanks’ DH and a big bopper in their lineup who is expected to produce this season.
Highlights
What’s next
The Yankees and Blue Jays finish out their three-game series in the Bronx on Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1:35 p.m.
RHP Luis Gil (0-0, 1.93 ERA) takes on RHP Bowden Francis (0-1, 11.81 ERA).
Source Agencies
