The Yankees finished out their series against the Astros, emerging with two key wins against their heated rivals in Houston. The series was tense, and now, they’re back home in the Bronx to host the AL East-leading Blue Jays. They trail Toronto by three games heading into this set, and the Yanks can absolutely still make this division race very interesting with a good showing this weekend.
A sweep would bring them back to even again, and though the Jays also already have an end-of-season edge in the tiebreaker,
there would be a whole lot of September baseball remaining to see if New York could make that a nonfactor. Simply taking two out of three would also chip a game off the edge. Let’s dream big, though.
Friday: Cam Schlittler vs. Kevin Gausman (7:05 pm ET)
The Yankees’ young gun on the mound has been excellent since his first game on July 9 against the Seattle Mariners. Schlittler pitched 5.1 innings, striking out seven and allowing three earned runs, contributing to the Yankees’ eventual win. Fast forward two months, he now leads off the Yankees’ rotation in arguably their most important series of the season. In eight of his nine outings, he has pitched at least five innings, and he’s pitched at least six in his last three games while only allowing one earned run in that time. Suffice to say he has only gotten better, but he’ll still have a tough test against a strong Blue Jays team. And he’ll face off against the first of three veterans to take the mound for Toronto.
Kevin Gausman, a two-time All-Star and third-place finisher for the American League Cy Young in 2023 (and a top-10 finisher the two years prior), will take the mound in the midst of another decent season. He’s pitching to the tune of a 3.75 ERA with 157 strikeouts in 27 games. His 114 ERA+ is the ninth 100 or higher ERA+ season in his career and his sixth in a row. With the Blue Jays leading the AL East, they’ll be looking to him to set the tone against a young rookie and to keep the Yankees on their back foot.
Saturday: Luis Gil vs. Max Scherzer (1:05 pm ET)
Another young gun versus veteran matchup in this series, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year, Luis Gil, will face one of the best pitchers of his generation and of all-time, Max Scherzer.
Gil’s season began late due to injury, but in his six games, he has still been a solid arm, trying to regain the swagger he pitched with last season. His 3.68 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 29.1 innings pitched have been a saving grace for a Yankees rotation that certainly missed his flamethrower fastball, and he’s been particularly effective his last five outings after struggling in his season debut in Miami. There’s still room to improve for the 27-year-old (walks are always a problem), but he’ll look to continue working his way back toward the top of his game in the middle matchup of this series.
Perhaps unfortunately for Gil, he will have to face Scherzer, who is having a subpar season by his standards, but could break out his prime form on any given night. He’s a three-time Cy Young Award winner for a reason, and even at 40 years old, he’s not a pitcher that the Yankees lineup can take lightly. Scherzer gave up four runs in each of his last two times out, but in the previous five, he combined for a 2.25 ERA and 28 strikeouts.
Sunday: Max Fried vs. Chris Bassitt (1:35 pm ET)
The final game of the three-game set will be another afternoon bout, this one between the Yankees’ best pitcher and another Toronto workhorse, the man with the second-most innings for the Blue Jays behind only Gausman.
Fried has been stellar for the Yankees since joining the team via free agency, and his last outing against the Astros was no different, with the lefty shaking off a midseason swoon to look like an ace again. He pitched seven innings, striking out five and allowing only four hits, with a single earned run. That outing put his ERA back under 3.00 for the season, and the Yankees are going to need him to be strong once again against the Blue Jays. Fried has faced the Blue Jays three different times this season and has posted a 4.15 ERA against them in that span.
As for Bassitt, his 4.10 ERA at the age of 36 is right in line with his ERA from the prior season and slightly worse than his career average of 3.65. He’s a couple of years removed from a top 10 finish in AL Cy Young voting, but he can still be an innings eater. Just like Fried, he has pitched against the Yankees three times and has posted a 4.82 ERA in just over 18 innings pitched. At this point in his career, Bassitt is a bit of a veteran innings eater, with the ability to keep his team in the game more often than not.
