Yankees Triumph at Rogers Center

TORONTO – The Yankees had quite a tumultuous time at the Rogers Center last year, and let’s be honest, it usually didn’t end well for them.

This season, however, they managed to turn things around during their first visit, clinching a series win.

For the second consecutive day, the Yankees broke a tie with Ben Rice’s two-run homer in the top of the ninth, leading to an 8-3 victory over the Blue Jays on Sunday.

After Rice’s game-changing home run, the Yankees (43-27) built on their momentum with Jose Caballero’s three-run shot, moving the score from 5-1 to a comfortable lead.

Paul Goldschmidt, who had the game-winning hit in Saturday’s matchup, started the bottom of the ninth on Sunday with a swinging bunt that rolled down the third base line. Blue Jays’ relief pitcher Braydon Fisher tried to make a challenging play but ended up making an inaccurate throw that gave Goldschmidt the chance to double.

Then Rice stepped up and, with a full count, hit a slider for his 19th home run of the season, bringing the team ahead.

Following walks by Jason Dominguez and Jazz Chisholm Jr., Caballero took Tommy Nance deep, giving the Yankees some breathing room as they reversed their fortunes from last year’s 1-8 record against the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Anthony Volpe had a solid outing with two hits in four at-bats and showcased strong defensive skills at shortstop. Yet, he also faced a missed opportunity in the eighth inning when, tied at 3-3, Chisholm walked, stole second, and then reached third after a balk. Unfortunately, Max Schumann and Volpe struck out, ending that threat.

The Yankees’ lower batting order, often seen as a liability, actually delivered the go-ahead run in the second inning against left-hander Patrick Corbin.

Schumann, a rare starter in left field, kicked things off with a double that hit the wall, then homered on a line drive to center field right after Volpe made a superb play on a grounder to end the first inning.

Ali Sanchez then added his first hit as a Yankee, a double that brought Volpe home, putting the Yankees up 2-0.

However, the Blue Jays evened the score with runs in the third and fourth innings against Will Warren, who wasn’t entirely aided by his defense and got lucky that the Blue Jays didn’t capitalize further.

After Warren loaded the bases in the second inning, Nathan Rooks failed to make a clean throw on Jose Caballero’s grounder in the third, allowing Alejandro Kirk to follow up with a single. Despite grounding Johendrik Piñango into a double play, Rooks ended up tripling later.

Next, Kazuma Okamoto hit a grounder, which after initially being fielded by Amed Rosario, resulted in an errant throw to first base that allowed Rooks to score.

Then, in the fourth inning, despite getting two outs, Warren saw George Springer and Rooks hit consecutive grounders just out of Volpe’s reach, tying the game at 2-2. On his 98th pitch of the day, Warren managed to ground out Kirk, keeping runners on second and third.

Following a strikeout against Corbin in the fourth, Volpe drove in an RBI off Spencer Miles for a brief 3-2 lead in the sixth inning.

But that lead didn’t stand for long; Jake Byrd later responded with a tying home run to Davis Schneider, who connected with a sinker in the bottom of the frame.