TORONTO — The spot that was a nightmare for the Yankees last season turned into another misadventure last night.
Another lackluster offensive performance led to another setback.
What should have been a routine double play with a one-run lead in the sixth inning morphed into a series of mishaps—perhaps Benny Hill’s “Yakety Sax” was playing somewhere?—that not only tied the game but also allowed the Blue Jays to seize the lead before ultimately winning 3-1 at the bustling Rogers Center.
The Yankees (68-54) are finding it increasingly difficult, as their offense struggled once again. While Gerrit Cole delivered another solid pitching performance, issues in defense and baserunning contributed to their continued 6½ games behind the Rays in the AL East.
“It’s clearly a challenge for us on offense. We made decent contact tonight and had some good at-bats,” manager Aaron Boone remarked, who was ejected in the sixth for arguing balls and strikes. “But at the end of the day, we needed to push across a run when the chance arose. That’s where we’re really struggling.”
The night began fairly well for the Yankees, but a chain of events quickly unraveled Cole’s start. In the bottom of the sixth, leading 1-0, with one out and runners on first and second, George Springer hit a grounder to third. Ryan McMahon fielded it, stepped on third, and attempted to throw to first for the double play. Unfortunately, his throw was a one-hopper to Luis Garcia Jr., who mishandled it, sending his glove flying.
“After I stepped on the bag, I felt the urge to throw,” McMahon commented. “I just didn’t execute properly.”
Then Garcia picked up the ball and, fumbling, threw to third base instead of first. Shortstop George Lombardo Jr. was nearby but couldn’t handle the erratic throw. A collision with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed, as both chased the loose ball, allowing Guerrero to score and tie the game.
“It didn’t go as planned,” Garcia remarked.
“Once he resumed play, he got a bit too aggressive with the throw to third,” Boone explained. “I guess I should’ve advised him to hold back.”
That extra out proved costly; Alejandro Kirk doubled, allowing Springer to score and the Blue Jays took a 2-1 lead. Cole expressed frustration over the situation during Guerrero’s at-bat, wishing for a clearer communication from umpires, while lamenting his inability to prevent Kirk from connecting on a first-pitch slider, which, by the way, Kirk later followed with a home run in his MLB debut.
Trent Grisham’s solo home run in the sixth provided a brief lead for the Yankees, marking an end to their 14-scoreless-inning streak. However, it turned out to be the only offense they generated all night, having only scored a single run in their last 18 innings since exploding for 10 runs a few days prior. In fact, this marks the ninth time within the last 14 games that they’ve scored two runs or fewer, wasting Cole’s commendable performance, during which he allowed only two runs (one earned) over six innings.
Another base-running blunder by Lombardo earlier in the game didn’t help, as he was caught out on a too-aggressive move to advance from second base on Grisham’s single.
In the following inning, Spencer Jones led off with a hustle double but ended up stranded on third, adding to the mounting frustration.
Cole mentioned that the extended failings of the lineup shouldn’t add extra pressure on the pitchers, though it feels a bit contradictory to suggest everything’s fine.
“We’re enjoying pitching and playing tight games,” Cole said. “Of course, we want to win as much as possible, yet we’re still making good pitches, playing solid defense, and keeping ourselves competitive.”
