YANKEES SPLIT 4 GAME SERIES WITH JAYS

Last week the Yankees dropped to second place in the AL East as their losing streak continued.

Thursday night Carlos Rodon took the mound against Jose Berrios. Rodon pitched 5 innings and despite striking out 8 batters he also gave up 8 runs. Berrios pitched 7 innings, also struck out 8 but only gave up 2 runs. It was a rough start for Rodon as the Blue Jays went up 5-0 in the first inning. Bo Bichette hit a single, former Yankee Isiah Kiner-Falefa was hit by a pitch, Vladimir Guerrero Jr hit a RBI double, Justin Turner hit a RBI single and George Springer hit a 3 run home run. The next inning Kiner-Falefa was hit by a pitch again and Springer hit another 3 run home run. Trent Grisham hit a 2 run home run in the fifth inning putting the Yankees on the board. But those were the only runs they scored. Guerrero Jr hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to add to the Blue Jays score. Kiner-Falefa was actually hit by a pitch a third time in the eighth inning. The Blue Jays won game one of the series, 9-2.

Friday night Yusei Kikuchi faced off against Marcus Stroman. Kikuchi has been struggling his last few starts so it left hope for Yankees fans that they would win this game. And win they did. Kikuchi pitched 5 innings and gave up 4 runs and struck out 7 which isn’t bad but Nate Pearson relieved him and gave up 3 runs of his own. Stroman pitched 4 1/3 innings and gave up 3 runs on 5 hits and struck out 3. George Springer continued to stay hot against the Yankees. He hit a RBI single in the first inning putting the Blue Jays up by 1. Juan Soto walked in the 4th inning and scored on a single by J.D. Davis to tie the game 1-1. Stroman loaded the bases in the 5th inning and the Blue Jays scored another run when Vladimir Guerrero Jr hit into a fielder’s choice. He loaded the bases a second time in the same inning and the Blue Jays scored another run when Springer was hit by a pitch. He also yelled at Gleyber Torres for failing to make a double play. The next inning the Yankees went ahead with a 3 run home run by Juan Soto, an RBI double by Davis and a 2 run home run by Gleyber Torres. The Yankees were now winning 7-3. Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a solo home run in the 6th inning and Guerrero Jr hit one in the 7th inning. The Blue Jays were now down 2 runs but the Yankees scored 2 more in the 8th inning off RBI doubles by DJ LeMahieu and Alex Verdugo. Up by 4 going into the 9th inning, the Yankees ended the game with a bang. Aaron Judge hit a 2 run single, Oswaldo Cabrera hit a RBI double, Judge scored on a sacrifice fly, Cabrera scored on a single by Verdugo, Verdugo scored on a double by Jose Trevino and Trevino scored on a single by Jahmai Jones. The Yankees won this one 16-5. Michael Tonkin earned the win as he relieved Stroman and pitched 1 2/3 innings and gave up 1 run, 1 hit and struck out 1.

Saturday night, the Yankees’ momentum didn’t carry over as they lost this won 3-9. Nestor Cortes pitched against Chris Bassitt. Cortes pitched 4 1/3 innings and gave up 3 runs and struck out 5. Bassitt pitched 6 innings and gave up 1 unearned run and struck out 8. The Blue Jays went up 2-0 early as Vladimir Guerrero Jr hit a 2 run home run in the first inning. The Blue Jays scored another run in the fourth inning off a RBI single. Aaron Judge hit a RBI single in the fifth inning to put the Yankees on the board and down by 2 runs. Phil Bickford pitched the sixth inning and did not have a great outing. He gave up 2 runs on a bunch of singles and was replaced by Caleb Ferguson with batters left on base. Ferguson’s first batter was Guerrero Jr who hit a 3 run double. To add to the misery, Guerrero Jr hit a RBI single in the ninth inning as well. Blue Jays won.

Sunday Gerrit Cole took the mound against Kevin Gausman. Cole pitched a solid 5 innings giving up 1 run on 3 hits and striking out 6. Gausman pitched 4 1/3 innings and gave up 7 runs on 7 hits but also struck out 7. The Yankees started off with 2 runs in the first inning as Aaron Judge hit a 2 run home run. They added 2 more runs in the second inning after 3 walks and a pair of singles. The Blue Jays only run was in the third inning on a single by Justin Turner. The Yankees scored 2 more runs in the fifth inning off a pair of doubles by DJ LeMahieu and Trent Grisham and 1 more run in the sixth inning when Alex Verdugo and Ben Rice both hit doubles. The Yankees won with a final score of 8-1 and Cole earned his first win of the season. The Yankees used three pitchers from their bullpen to finish out the game and combined they only gave up 1 hit.

In other news the Yankees selected Josh Maciejewi’s minor league contract and designated Phil Brickford for assignment.

They will get a day of rest before facing the Cincinnati Reds in a 3 game series in the Bronx on Tuesday.