The playoff hopes for the New York Yankees are hanging by the proverbial thread. With the streaking Detroit Tigers now supplanted in the second spot in the Wild Card, and the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros closing in, it’s do or die time for the Bombers. A major opportunity was afoot for them as they went north of the border to take on their AL East rival, the Toronto Blue Jays, who currently possess the top spot in the wild card. Certainly, if the Yankees want to make a postseason push, sweeping or taking the series from Toronto should be priority numero uno.
All things don’t always go as planned though, as time has told us. That mantra was ever apparent in Toronto on Friday night in the wake of the 9-0 defeat at the hands of the Blue Jays.
The Yankees worked the Jays into a precarious position with a bases-loaded, two-out situation in the top of the first inning but failed to capitalize and didn’t score a run for the rest of the evening. The Blue Jays would then mirror the situation the ensuing inning and plate two. Two innings later, the Yankees would have two runners aboard with one out, but Billy Butler and Didi Gregorius couldn’t quite get ahold of the ball at the plate, and down they went with runners on again. It would take a few innings, but these squandered chances would bite them in the behind as four runs would come across to score for Canada’s team in the bottom of the seventh inning. Josh Donaldson, an AL MVP candidate by any measure, struck the final blow with a two-run home run in the eighth.
Despite falling into early trouble, starter Bryan Mitchell didn’t have a terrible outing by any means. Through six innings, Mitchell allowed three runs, only one earned, and six hits. However the four walks he would issue would be the sorest of spots. The bullpen would be pelted, in particular Blake Parker, who was charged with the four runs that came around to score in the bottom of the seventh. Ben Heller would be tagged with two runs later off the bat of Donaldson’s two-run bomb.
Francisco Liriano meanwhile strung together a quality outing after falling into trouble early on. Liriano danced his way out of that early hiccup and cruised onward, allowing three hits over his six innings of work. No runs would come to pass while he was toeing the rubber, as Liriano fanned six batters and issued only two free passes. He and the Blue Jays pitchers only allowed one extra-base hit that came in the second inning off the bat of Gary Sanchez who hit a ground-rule double. In fact, the Blue Jays bullpen tossed three no-hit innings with one baserunner coming off a walk by Aaron Hicks.
The Play: Tulo puts the Jays on the board (+.160 WPA)
The biggest swing in the game came in the early frame off of this two-run single by shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. Tulo’s early damage put the Yankees behind the eight ball and that was only further impacted by Liriano’s stout outing on the mound and the Yankees’ inability to capitalize with runners on and runners in scoring position.
Notes
– Gary Sanchez went 2-for-4 while playing the designated hitter role. The AL Rookie of the Year candidate is now slashing a cool .337/.413/.738 on the season.
– Josh Donaldson’s two-run blast in the eighth was his 36th homer of the season. He is five home runs shy of the career-high 41 he hit in 2015 when he, of course, won the AL MVP award.
– Toronto hit 5-for-11 with RISP. Conversely, the Yankees went 0-for-4.
The Highlight: Beware the popcorn shower
All in good fun, right?
Up Next
The Yankees will look to avenge the opening game loss on Saturday afternoon. CC Sabathia (8-12, 4.19 ERA) will be on the mound for the Yanks in one of the biggest games of the year while Marcus Stroman (9-9, 4.50 ERA) will look to continue to keep the ball rolling for the Jays.
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