The Toronto Blue Jays begin a stretch of 11 games in a row against American League East rivals with a four-game series against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre.
The best division in baseball by far, the AL East has the Boston Red Sox in last at three games over .500.
If the playoffs started today, the Red Sox would be the only team in the division to miss the post-season — but the Red Sox have the best winning percentage of all the non-playoff teams in the American League.
Here’s a look at the Blue Jays-Yankees series.
Probable Pitchers
Monday, 7:07 p.m. ET / 4:07 p.m. PT: Toronto RHP Alek Manoah (1-3, 4.63 ERA) vs. TBD, Sportsnet ONE
Tuesday, 7:07 p.m. ET / 4:07 p.m. PT: Toronto RHP Kevin Gausman (2-3, 3.38 ERA) vs. New York RHP Domingo German (2-3, 4.00 ERA), Sportsnet
Wednesday, 7:07 p.m. ET / 4:07 p.m. PT: Toronto RHP Chris Bassitt (5-2, 3.49 ERA) vs. New York RHP Gerrit Cole (5-0, 2.22 ERA), Sportsnet
Thursday, 7:07 p.m. ET / 4:07 p.m. PT: Toronto RHP Jose Berrios (3-3, 4.70 ERA) vs. New York LHP Nestor Cortes (3-2, 5.53 ERA), Sportsnet ONE
All games on SN NOW.
Latest on the Blue Jays
The Blue Jays (24-16) completed a three-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves, who entered the weekend tops in the National League, with a bizarre 6-5 win on Sunday in Toronto.
Both teams committed a handful of baserunning and defensive blunders, but someone had to win.
It turned out to be Toronto after Danny Jansen’s walk-off single with two out in the ninth plated a pair.
The late dramatics allowed starter Yusei Kikuchi to stay undefeated, despite not having anywhere close to his best stuff.
The Blue Jays’ last four series have all been sweeps – two by Toronto, two by the opponent.
The Blue Jays are third in the East, six games behind the MLB-leading Tampa Bay Rays and two back of the Baltimore Orioles.
Latest on the Yankees
The Yankees (23-19) settled for a split of a four-game series with the Rays after a dramatic 8-7 loss in New York on Sunday.
It looked like Aaron Judge might have tied the game with two out in the bottom of the ninth as he crushed a ball, with reliever Jason Adam reacting as if it was a home run. But it ended up in the glove of outfielder Jose Siri to preserve the win for the Rays.
The Yankees fell just short of their third consecutive comeback win. Taylor Walls hit a grand slam in the fifth to give Tampa an 8-4 lead.
The previous day, New York rallied from a 6-0 hole for a 9-8 win, powered by two homers from Judge.
The Yankees are 3-4 against the Rays this season with six of the games decided by one run.
New York is fourth in the AL East, two games back of the Blue Jays and eight behind Tampa.
No Donaldson
Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson remains out with a hamstring strain. The former Blue Jays star hasn’t played since April 5.
The Yankees have battled key injuries all season.
Marquee Matchup
After the Manoah-Cole grudge match in the last series between the teams, the Yankees ace goes against the Blue Jays’ hottest starter — Bassitt — on Wednesday.
The first-year Blue Jay threw a rare complete game in a 3-0 win over Atlanta on Friday.
After an outstanding start to the season, Cole hasn’t been as good recently. He has allowed nine earned runs in three starts in May after giving up just five in his first six starts of the season.
Season Series
The Blue Jays won two of three at Yankee Stadium in April with the only loss a 3-2 setback in one of Manoah’s better starts of a shaky season.
Gausman struck out 11 and allowed no runs on three hits in seven innings in a 5-1 series-ending win. Kikuchi had the win in the opener — a 6-1 decision.
After reiterating that he would never play for the Yankees before the series because of family history, Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went on to belt two homers in the three games.
Slumping Stars
Blue Jays third baseman Matt Chapman had a rough game on Sunday, committing two errors.
The American League’s player of the month in April, Chapman is scuffling a bit in May. He’s slashing .174/.269/.217 with no homers, 18 strikeouts and five walks.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see one of the big-money New York teams make a pitch for the pending free agent in the off-season — and that buzz will just build if Chapman has a good series here.
The bigger concern for the Blue Jays is Manoah, whose numbers have taken a huge dip this year. The 2022 all-star hasn’t made it past the fifth inning in five of his past six starts.
Perhaps a start against the Yankees, the team Manoah faced in an impressive MLB debut in 2021, can be a lift for the right-hander.
Judge Returns
Judge plays his first game in Toronto since he belted his AL record-tying 61st home run last year against Tim Mayza on Sept. 28.
Judge, who finished the year with 62 homers, signed a record-breaking, nine-year, $360 million deal with the Yankees in the off-season.
The outfielder isn’t putting up the kind of numbers he did last year, but remains a big threat. Judge, who returned on May 9 after missing two weeks with hip issues, is slashing .263/.353/.522 with eight homers and 21 RBI.
Dome Sweet Dome
The Blue Jays are 12-3 at Rogers Centre this season. New York is 7-9 on the road.
Up Next
The Blue Jays wrap up a 10-game homestand with a three-game series against the Orioles, starting Friday.
