LuisGil delivered six solid innings and the Yankees' offense got just enough support for a 3-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon in The Bronx.
With the win, the Yanks kept their slim hopes at winning the American League East alive as they improved to 79-63 on the season (42-29 at home) and are now 3.0 games back of the Jays, who fell to 82-60.
Here are the takeaways...
- With two outs in the first, Gil served up a double to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who entered the game swinging a hot bat and 2-for-4 with three walks against the Yanks’ starter, on a fastball up in the zone that was rocketed into left-center. The righty began each of the first two innings by getting outs on the first pitch of the frame, and worked around a couple of two-out walks to get through three frames on 44 pitches (28 strikes).
Gil lost the feel to start the fourth, issuing back-to-back walks, which brought pitching coach MattBlake out for a visit. But he did well to limit the damage, getting a fielder’s choice on a grounder to second to put runners on the corners before Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s bouncer up the middle plated a run when the Yanks couldn’t turn the double play as Jazz Chisholm Jr. seemed to get handcuffed on AnthonyVolpe’s toss.
An eight-pitch 1-2-3 fifth put Gil back on track, before a one-out double by Bo Bichette put the tying run in scoring position as the rain started to fall in the sixth. After another Blake mound visit, Gil got out of the jam thanks to some good defense behind him. First getting Daulton Varsho, who has an .878 OPS with RISP this year, to pop out down the third base line thanks to a nice play by Ryan McMahon, who made a long run and stayed with the high fly. On a single to right by Nathan Lukes, Cody Bellinger gunned down the speedy Bichette at the plate by five feet to preserve the lead. His throw skipped on the wet infield grass perfectly to Austin Wells, who applied the tag as he blocked the plate.
A 106-minute rain delay after the top of the sixth ended Gil’s day prematurely; his final stats: one run on three hits and four walks with one strikeout over 6.0 frames on 90 pitches (56 strikes).
- The Yanks jumped on Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in the second after Bellinger worked a walk before Chisholm reached on an error by first baseman Guerrero and Jasson Dominguez cracked an RBI single to right for runners on the corners. After Volpewent down swinging at a fastball above the zone, Wells lined a ball to right, but a terrific diving catch by Addison Barger kept it to a sac fly, and the two unearned runs were all the home side managed in the inning.
- Chisholm looped the first pitch out of the rain delay in the bottom of the sixth over the shortstop for a single, but was thrown out trying to steal second a few pitches later. That baserunning aggressiveness hurt the Yanks as Dominguez followed with a walk, Volpe doubled, and Wells added his second sac fly of the game to double the advantage to 3-1.
- Luke Weaver was the first man out of the bullpen and surrendered a first-pitch double to left-center by Kiner-Falefa to start the seventh. After getting a pair of pop flies to shallow left, manager Aaron Boone went to Fernando Cruz to face George Springer, but a walk put the tying run on first. However, Cruz got Barger to hit a tapper to first to strand the runners.
Cruz allowed an infield single up the middle to Guerrero to start the eighth, but got Bichette swinging and Varsho to fly out. Boone then went to David Bednar, who got Lukes looking to end the inning. The closer stayed in the game for a 1-2-3 ninth, adding two strikeouts for his 21st save of the season.
- Aaron Judge put a charge into a fastball down the middle with two down in the first, but it went for a 398-foot flyout to center. Judge, DHing after he played right field on Friday for the first time since his return to injury, smoked it 104.1 mph off the bat, but to the wrong part of the park. The slugger, up for the second time with two outs and nobody on, then ripped a single (107 mph) down the third base line in the third.
In the fifth, after McMahon worked a leadoff walk and Ben Rice notched a one-out single through the right side of the infield, Judge had two men on to work with, but got jammed for a fielder’s choice to third. He came up again with two gone and nobody out in the seventh and went down looking to finish the day 1-for-4.
- Bellinger, who walked his first two times up, grounded out with runners on the corners and two out in the fifth inning. It was a funky play as Bellinger got tagged by Guerrero on the bottom of his back foot after the throw took the first baseman down the line. The call on the field was safe, but Toronto’s challenge took a run off the board and ended the inning.
Bellinger finished the day 0-for-1 with three walks, a season-high.
- Chisholm finished the day 1-for-4 with a strikeout in his last at-bat, and he had some words for home plate umpire Alan Porter, who had a large zone at times during the game. (The Yankees benefited when the first out of the top of the ninth came on a called third strike that was a few inches off the plate.)
- Volpe finished 1-for-4 with a strikeout. He is now 30-for-154 (.195) since the All-Star break, but has eight hits over his last 29 at-bats (.276).
- Trent Grisham finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Game MVP: Luis Gil
Gil didn't have his best stuff, but kept the Blue Jays from making solid contact and was very effective at avoiding a big inning.
Highlights
What's next
The Yanks and Jays play the rubber game of the three-game set on Sunday at 1:35 p.m.
The home team will send out left-hander Max Fried (2.98 ERA, 1.107 WHIP with 159 strikeouts in 169 innings) for his 29th start of his debut season in pinstripes. The visitors counter with righty Max Scherzer (4.11 ERA, 1.129 WHIP with 62 strikeouts in 70 innings) for the 14th start of the three-time Cy Young Award winner's debut season with Toronto.
