Blue Jays Come Back from the Blows. Toronto 10 NY 9

June 20, 2022 paperbacklou 2022 0

Well that sucked.

Toronto scored 7 runs on 2 pitches — a Grand Slam in the 6th off Miguel Castro and a 3-run homer in the 7th off Wandy Peralta — to spot an 8-3 Yankee lead and win the game 10-9.

The Yanks came back with a run on an Anthony Rizzo pinch-hit homer in the 8th to make it 10-9, and had 2nd and 3rd, 2 outs in the 9th with Anthony Rizzo up again, but he grounded out for the old ballgame.

On a brilliant sunny Sunday in Toronto — Father’s Day and Juneteenth.

The Yankees fall to 49-17 — still the best record in baseball by 6 games — but their 8-game winning streak is broken. Toronto improves to 38-28, in 2nd place, 11 games back.

“It’s gonna happen,” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards. “It’s a really good offense over there, obviously. They had a couple of big swings, with a Grand Slam and 3-run homer that obviously hurt us.”

1. Severino Good

Luis Severino walked Bo Bichette and allowed a 2-run homer to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.in the bottom of the 1st and just like that NY was behind 2-0.

But Severino settled in and started striking people out. He retired the side 1-2-3 in the 2nd, striking out 2, struck out 2 more in the 3rd, had a 1-2-3 4th (another strikeout), and struck out 2 more in the 5th while yielding a homer to George Springer that made it 6-3 at the time.

2. Yankees Jump Out to 8-3 Lead

Meanwhile the Yankees came right back with runs for Severino — starting with a Gleyber Torres homerun leading off the top of the 2nd off Toronto starter Yusei Kikuchi who came in with a record of 2-3 and 4.80 ERA.

In the 3rd, Joey Gallo walked and Josh Donaldson  hit a 2-run bomb to center and it was 3-2 Yanks.

Toronto pulled Kikuchi after 4 innings and brought in Adam Cimber and NY greeted him with a walk by Joey Gallo, single by DJ LeMahieu, and double by Aaron Judge for a 4-2 NY lead.

Cimber struck out Donaldson and Giancarlo Stanton but Gleyber Torres — RED HOT — ripped a double to deep center and it was 6-2 NY.

In the top of the 5th, Toronto brought in Max Castillo for his Major League debut, and Kyle Higashioka greeted him with a 426-foot BOMB to left for a 7-3 NY lead.

Next batter Marwin Gonzalez homered to center and NY was up 8-3 and this was turning into a rout.

3. Castro “This Close” to Being a Hero

But you can’t count your chickens before they hatch into Blue Jays and in the bottom of the 6th, Guerrero singled and Severino walked Alejandro Kirk and was gone — relieved by Miguel Castro.

Castro got a groundout (almost a double play) and a strikeout and was “this close” to being a hero. But he walked Matt Chapman and on a 2-2 pitch Lourdes Gurriel Jr. took him downtown to left for a Grand Slam and 8-7 ballgame, NY still on top but by just a run.

“I thought Castro got ahead of Chapman,” said Boone afterwards. “First two pitches looked like strikes right there, ahead of the Gurriel homer — somehow you don’t get those so that’s a little frustrating — but credit to Gurriel, he worked an at bat, got to 2 strikes and didn’t miss his pitch.”

Two of the runs were charged to Severino so his boxscore read 5 innings, 3 hits, 5 earned runs, 9 Strikeouts. His ERA climbs to 3.27.

4. Peralta’s Wand Was Broken

Like the “My Favorite Martian” episode where Uncle Martin’s antennas were stuck in his head, or the “Bewitched” episode where Samantha couldn’t wiggle her nose, or the “I Dream of Jeannie” episode where Jeannie’s blinks produced the wrong results — Wandy Peralta‘s Magic Wand wasn’t working when he took the mount in the 7th.

He allowed an infield single, groundout, walk, and 3-run homer to centerfield by DH Teoscar Hernandez, and it was 10-8 Toronto just like that.

5. Yanks Try Comeback

The Yanks did not take the deficit sitting down — they came right back and launched their own comeback attempt. In the 8th, Anthony Rizzo hit a 382-foot, pinch-hit homer to right to make it 10-9 Toronto.

Importantly, in the bottom of the 8th, Ron Marinaccio kept the Yanks in the game with a shutout inning, allowing two baserunners but getting out of it.

In the bottom of the 9th against Toronto ace Jordan Romano, Giancarlo Stanton got a 1-out walk, and Aaron Hicks got a 2-out single to move Stanton to 3rd. Hicks stole 2nd and with 2 out, 2nd and 3rd — the tying run 90 feet away, the go-ahead run in scoring position — Anthony Rizzo worked the count 3-2, but grounded out on a slider for the old ballgame.

Etcetera

RED HOT Gleyber Torres finished 3-5 with the homer, 3 RBI’s and is now batting .267 (.324 OBP). His Defense at 2nd base has been good, and his baserunning exceptional. He is playing at an All Star level. Vote here.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401355231

 

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