NEW YORK — For all the talk about this being the biggest series of the season, the Toronto Blue Jays did nothing different under the bright lights at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.
The stakes were high, and the ballpark was packed and buzzing right from the start but none of that seemed to matter to the visiting side. Kevin Gausman authored a dominant performance, and the Blue Jays’ lineup remained true to who they’ve been all season while executing a clinical 7-1 win over the New York Yankees in front of 46,055 in the Bronx.
With the victory, the Blue Jays improved to 82-59 and increased their lead over the second-place Yankees to four games, creating further separation from an American League East rival whom they already hold a tiebreaker over.
The Blue Jays wasted no time in jumping on Yankees rookie phenom Cam Schlittler. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was booed as he walked to the plate before his at-bat in the first inning and quickly quieted the crowd by ripping a first-pitch single to left field.
Up next was an excellent at-bat from Bo Bichette, who went down 0-2 before fouling off two 99-m.p.h. fastballs and a curveball from Schlittler and eventually worked the count to 2-2. Finally, Bichette broke his bat on the eighth pitch of the plate appearance but managed to lift the ball into left for a double that scored Guerrero Jr.
The Blue Jays proceeded to load the bases and Nathan Lukes followed with a single to right that plated two more runs on a play that exhibited the Blue Jays’ penchant for executing on the margins to take advantage of their opponents’ weakness.
Aaron Judge fielded Lukes’s drive but Daulton Varsho forced him to make a throw home. However, the Yankees’ slugger, playing in his first game in right field since the end of July due to a right elbow issue, didn’t meet that challenge and instead threw softly to the cutoff man at second, allowing Varsho to easily score.
The Blue Jays continued to apply a vice grip in the second, loading the bases before Bichette’s sacrifice fly added another run. The lineup wore down Schlittler, fouling off a remarkable 24 pitches, 15 of which came with two strikes, while making him throw 66 pitches over his 1.2 innings.
Guerrero Jr. padded the Blue Jays’ lead with a solo homer off left-hander Ryan Yarbrough in the fifth inning. It was his 16th career homer at Yankee Stadium, the most he’s hit in any opposing ballpark, as he collected four hits on the night.
That was more than enough support for Gausman, who was about as good as he’s been all season. The right-hander utilized his fastball-splitter combo effectively to suffocate the Yankees’ lineup.
Giancarlo Stanton launched a solo shot off Gausman in the second inning and beyond that, the only real pressure Gausman faced came in the seventh, when he allowed two runners to reach with just one out. However, the right-hander rebounded to strike out Jazz Chisholm and induce a flyout from Paul Goldschmidt.
He allowed just four hits over eight innings, walking one and striking out five and sports a 2.48 ERA over his past six starts.
Gausman nicely set the tone for the Blue Jays’ rotation in this important series and, on that front, manager John Schneider revealed before the game that the club swapped its starters for the weekend, with Chris Bassitt now set to pitch on Saturday and Max Scherzer moved to Sunday. That was done to get Scherzer, who’s been dealing with upper back tightness that crept up on him in his last start, an extra day of rest.
Meanwhile, Anthony Santander is with the club in New York and is continuing to ramp up in his recovery from a left shoulder ailment. If he continues to progress, the switch-hitting outfielder could begin a rehab assignment with the triple-A Bisons beginning Tuesday.
Schneider was asked on Friday afternoon if he was allowing himself to feel the difference between this series and the last time the two clubs played each other, back in mid-July in Toronto.
“I think I’d be lying if I said, ‘No, it’s not different,’” Schneider said. “Just because it’s September. But, really, the goal is to win every series. If we happen to lose today, we’re playing tomorrow, and the goal is the same.
“As the runway gets smaller, yeah, sure, you can look at things a little bit more closely,” continued the manager. “But you’re trying to win the series. Try to have a good game plan tonight, tomorrow, Sunday and let the chips fall where they may.”
The chips fell in the Blue Jays’ favour on Friday, thanks in large part to the execution of that game plan. Up next is a chance to win the series on Saturday.
