The Yankees took care of business in the Wild Card Series, taking down the Boston Red Sox in three games to advance to the ALDS. Now, they face yet another AL East opponent, and the one that finished barely
ahead of them in the Toronto Blue Jays. Like Boston, they’ve struggled all year against the Jays, but there’s no better time to play your best baseball than in October. Taking Game 1 would be a massive step towards that as New York is running out their fourth starter, Luis Gil, against Toronto’s No. 1 in Kevin Gausman.
With the righty on the mound, Aaron Boone has free reign to roll out his ace lineup, and the Yankee skipper did just that to start things off in Toronto:
Trent Grisham remains atop the lineup for Game 1, looking to provide a spark ahead of the team’s MVP. Grisham had a dismal Game 1 against Boston, striking out in all four at-bats he had, but he performed much better in Game 2 with the righty Brayan Bello starting as he went 1-for-4 with a double, run scored, stole a base, and walked. After collecting one more hit in the series finale on Thursday, perhaps the table setter is ready to rip for New York.
Speaking of the MVP, Aaron Judge was actually fairly quiet in the clinching Game 3, going 0-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch, but he asserted himself quite fine in the series overall, going 2-for-4 in Games 1 and 2. He’s yet to hit an extra-base hit this postseason, but he’s starting off on a much warmer note than his last few Octobers, so look out for No. 99 imposing his will this time around. He’s got a lot of experience against Gausman and the numbers are in Judge’s favor: he’s 17-for-48 (.354) with six long balls and 11 walks against the Jays starter in his career.
Ben Rice gets the start at first base, and after being entrusted to start against a lefty in Game 3 I’d expect him to be the full-time starter going forward. His two-run home run right out of the gates in Game 2 set the tone for the Yankees to survive, and could build on his young resume as a breakout star with another great game. Giancarlo Stanton has been relatively quiet so far, getting a double in Game 3 that he had to hustle for after initially thinking it was a homer, but he also has great numbers against Gausman, going 10-for-30 with four home runs.
The lineup will face some challenging spots against Toronto’s ace, of course. Cody Bellinger hasn’t squared the righty up well in his career, going just 2-for-25 against him, and Anthony Volpe has similarly struggled with a 3-for-24 stretch — though all three hits have been for extra bases, with two doubles and a homer. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is 0-for-13 lifetime against Gausman, but he’s been a spark plug in these playoffs when starting, scoring the winning run in Game 2 and then going 2-for-4 with a run scored in Game 3.
Will the offense be able to do enough against Gausman to support Gil and turn a series lead over to the top of their rotation? Tune in to find out.
