In a game in which the inactive players on both teams could fill most of an All-Star Game lineup, two outstanding pitchers took full advantage. Aaron Judge, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Trent Grisham, and Alejandro Kirk were just some of the names that weren’t featured in the starting lineups. So all Kevin Gausman and Cam Schlittler did was complete respective seven-inning, one-run performances. After that, it was a matter of seeing which bullpen would blink first. Mercifully, it was Toronto’s: Paul Goldschmidt’s
two-run home run off Louis Varland in the ninth inning proved the backbreaker as the Bombers got their first win north of the border in almost 11 months.
Gausman had the better of the two outings, if we wish to split hairs. He cruised past the Yankee lineup all day with his signature splitter and all of his other pitches working like a charm. While Toronto threatened at various points throughout the early part of the afternoon, the Bombers only managed a single hit against the veteran—thankfully, said hit cleared the wall.
Per YES Network’s Jason Smyth, Jasson Domínguez arrived at Rogers Centre from his Triple-A stint at Lehigh Valley at 2 p.m. sharp, arrived to the ballpark, at 3, then homered to right field at exactly 4 p.m. in the fourth inning. A wonderful bit of timing for the Martian, who hooked the ball down the right field line to put the Yankees on the board.
That blast followed the opening salvo of the afternoon from Kazuma Okamoto, which came in the bottom of the third. Schlittler fired a 98 mph two-seam fastball up and in on Okamoto, but he still managed to turn it around and send a screaming liner down the left field line for his 15th homer of the season.
Schlittler’s command was not as airtight as Gausman’s; the young star had his issues with baserunners at several points throughout the afternoon. In the second inning, he loaded the bases with two out, but managed to retire Andres Giménez and the side on a grounder.
In the fourth, a double by Yohendrick Piñango put two runners on scoring position with only one out, at which point Jazz Chisholm Jr. put on his superhero cape. With the infield drawn in, he still had the reflexes and speed to make a diving catch on a line drive from Vlad Jr.’s mini-me for this ballgame, Charles McAdoo. A strikeout of Giménez once again rendered the Jays foiled.
But if you know how jays are in the avian world: they’re loud, persistent, and quite obnoxious. So there they were again, gathering around the feeder with two men aboard and none out after Schlittler’s waning command led to some free passes. No matter. Schlittler shooed them off by inducing a ground ball double play from Okamoto and blowing a fastball past outfielder Jesus Sánchez to walk off again unscathed.
Two innings later, Cam struck out Nathan Lukes swinging to finish his afternoon with another outstanding start in the books. It was another shining example of how dangerous Schlittler is: even with subpar command and having allowed ten runners to reach—six by hit and four by walk—the only run came on a solo homer, the kind of hit a pitcher can easily move past. Schlittler was certainly upset with himself at certain junctures, but he never let that frustration boil over into a big inning.
Gausman, of course, was utterly dominant. He completed his outing with a 1-2-3 seventh inning, finishing with seven strikeouts, two walks, and just the one solo homer.
In the top of the eighth it looked as if the mice would finally play with the cat away. J.C. Escarra and Ben Rice each singled off submariner Tyler Rogers to give the Yankees their first hit since Domínguez’ home run, setting up a two-out go-ahead RBI opportunity for… Domínguez. Jasson hit Rogers’ 2-1 delivery hard on the ground toward the right field line, but McAdoo sprawled to his right to corral the ball and save a run—possibly two.
If you were frustrated after that, I understand. But for once, the Jays and their fans had more reasons to be frustrated today. Fernando Cruz inherited Schlittler’s topsy-turvy command, working a pair of walks in quick succession to start the bottom of the eighth. But when Ernie Clement botched his sac bunt attempt, I’m sure some doubt began to creep in.
Cruz struck out Brandon Valenzuela before letting a third Jay aboard via walk, giving Toronto another tantalizing chance for a big hit. Instead, McAdoo popped a ball into foul territory, and Rice snagged it a few steps shy of the dugout. The Blue Jays had now stranded 10 runners on base.
Enter the ninth. The Yankees were searching for catharsis akin to Ben Rice’s big blast the last time they had won at Rogers Centre. They got it from Paul Goldschmidt.
If you didn’t think the ball was gone off the swing, Louis Varland’s hunched reaction probably gave it away. Varland hung a slider right over the heart of the plate, and Goldy provided a prime Paul Goldschmidt swing, obliterating it to the second deck for the decisive two-run blow.
Goldschmidt’s ninth home run of his thrilling age-38 season took all the remaining wind out of the Jays’ sails, as David Bednar struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to secure the victory. It was the Yankees’ first win in Toronto since July 22nd of last season, and was it ever a sweet one.
Now they’ll look for something that hasn’t felt possible in a while: a series win in Rogers Centre. Will Warren is set to lead the charge against everyone’s favorite lefty, Patrick Corbin. First pitch is set for the extremely Canadian 1:37 timeslot on YES.
