NEW YORK — A one-hour, 46-minute rain delay essentially split Saturday’s game at Yankee Stadium into two halves. Neither went particularly well for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Bo Bichette avoided serious injury in the sixth inning on a play where he was thrown out at the plate as the potential tying run and, much later in the afternoon, the Blue Jays couldn’t mount a comeback as the New York Yankees prevailed in a 3-1 win over Toronto.
With the loss, the Blue Jays (82-60) saw their lead over the second-place Yankees (79-63) shrink to three games in the American League East.
Bichette had reached base with his MLB-leading 44th double in the sixth and, later in the frame, attempted to score on Nathan Lukes’ single to right. Bichette had barely reached third when Cody Bellinger scooped the ball, and the Yankees right-fielder proceeded to deliver a perfect, one-hop, 95.3-m.p.h. throw to nab Bichette.
It was Bellinger’s third-hardest throw of the season and ended the inning, preserving a Yankees’ lead that seemed precarious in the moment.
Bichette’s slide into home caused his leg to connect with Wells’s knee and the Blue Jays’ shortstop immediately grabbed his left shin and hobbled toward the visitors’ dugout before stopping and bending over in obvious pain. He was helped down the steps by team trainer Jose Ministral in what was an unnerving moment for the club. The prospect of losing Bichette, one of the key drivers of the Blue Jays’ offensive success, for any amount of time would be a huge blow.
However, that fate was avoided as Bichette returned to the field after the long delay and didn’t appear to be injured during the remainder of the game.
He struck out in the eighth inning against Yankees right-hander Fernando Cruz, who, along with Luke Weaver before him and David Bednar after, combined to provide three innings of scoreless relief.
Meanwhile, Chris Bassitt started for the Blue Jays and kept the game close until the aggressive downpour that forced most of the 45,123 to seek shelter in the concourse.
The Yankees put runners on first and second with one out in the fifth inning, bringing Aaron Judge to the plate to face Bassitt in what was a key moment.
Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker visited Bassitt on the mound and the right-hander responded by pounding Judge inside with a sinker that he weakly grounded to third base for a force out. Then, Bassitt got the next batter, Bellinger, to ground out to Bichette.
The shortstop delivered a wide throw to first base, where Vladimir Guerrero Jr. received it and spun almost 360 degrees to tag Bellinger, who was initially ruled safe before a replay review confirmed that Guerrero Jr.’s glove swiped the right cleat of Bellinger. That kept the Blue Jays’ deficit to just one run, but the Yankees added an insurance run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly, a run that was charged to right-hander Louis Varland.
Up next is a matchup on Sunday between Max Scherzer and Yankees’ left-hander Max Fried. It will, of course, carry big implications in the standings and be the last time these clubs meet in the regular season.
