Josh pointed out earlier today that there just aren’t enough ways to describe how great the Yankees have been this year. Today there would be no hexes as the Yankees went out and did what they had been doing all year – dominate as the pitching staff and find the right hits.
It was a tall order to secure the series win today, even with Jameson Taillon on the mound thanks to the Blue Jays sending Alek Manoah. The Yankees struggled to pick out the blue-chip pitcher who thrived in his sophomore year in the big leagues, but they nailed it today. Manoah drove through the first three innings, but Anthony Rizzo started a one-out rally with a walk in the fourth. Gleyber Torres moved into midfield to advance Rizzo and Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit an infield single with two outs to load the bases.
That brought up Aaron Hicks, who has struggled mightily all year. The Yankee lineup was without several starters, including Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu and Josh Donaldson, so someone had to step up to keep the offensive going today. The snake-bitten outfielder turned his luck for an afternoon with a right-field double that cleared bases – his first extra base hit with loaded bases since 2017 – give the Yankees a hint that they would never surrender.
On the other side of the ball, Taillon set about winning the scheduled pitching duel and he delivered. Taillon fended off the Blue Jays at every opportunity — whether it was a leadoff walk to George Springer to start the game or a leadoff double to Ramiel Tapia to start the fifth inning, they couldn’t consistently go on against Taillon . Their best chance came in the sixth inning when a springer walk and a Bo Bichette single gave the Jays first- and second-place runners, with none missing. Taillon responded by getting Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to gently fly to the left and center Alejandro Kirk’s flyball in the park. Taillon passed the ball to Michael King, who froze Teoscar Hernandez with a 98mph fastball to end the threat.
The top half of the sixth gave the Yankees a chance to extend their lead when Gleyber Torres hit a ball deep down the middle that Tapia pinned to the wall but was initially shut out as an out. The Yankees challenged and got the reverse call, and then after Joey Gallo moved the runner over on a flyball, Kiner-Falefa hit a double hit almost falling over in the batter’s box to score the run.
From there, baseball’s two best helpers shut the door on Toronto. King stayed out for the seventh inning, working around a one-out single from Matt Chapman and then hitting two batters in the eighth before handing the matter off to Clay Holmes. Holmes stranded Springer, who previously ran for the third time in the game, by getting Kirk to go for third, then set the Jays in order in the ninth. Holmes has now broken Mariano Rivera’s franchise records for consecutive goalless innings and goalless appearances, a feat that seems unthinkable but fits right in with that team’s other dominating performances.
The Yankees have now won nine straight games and 16 of their last 17 – any way you look at it, this is baseball’s hottest team and baseball’s best team. They have a 12-game lead in the AL East and can extend it tomorrow afternoon with a series sweep that will see Luis Severino get back on the mound after his start was skipped due to illness. Yusei Kikuchi is tasked with bringing him together, and this game begins at 1:37 p.m. EST.
box score.