Gerrit Cole and Chris Bassitt locked up into a good old fashioned pitchers’ duel — a 0-0 tie in the 7th inning — and the Yankee and Blue Jay bullpens picked up where they left off — sending the game 0-0 into the 10th inning.
Finally in the bottom of the 10th, with the inherited runner on 3rd and 1 out, Danny Jansen hit a homer to left for the 3-0 Blue Jay win.
“Tonite was actually kinda quiet considering the first two nights,” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards. “And obviously not a lot of scoring. We just have to wash this one off and get ready to go and try to win the series tomorrow.”
NY falls to 25-20; Toronto improves to 25-18. NY remains 7.5 behind 1st place Tampa, which lost.
1. Cole Great
Good news for the Yanks — Gerrit Cole continued his excellent pitching so far this year with another good start — utilizing his 99 MPH fastball and wicked slider to pitch shutout ball into the 7th.
In this one the first two batters of the game for Toronto got on due to errors — by Oswaldo Cabrera at shortstop and Cole himself. But with 1st and 2nd nobody out, Cole got popout, strikeout, strikeout and he was on his way.
Gerrit Cole, Dirty 90mph Slider…and Sword. ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/7Bz9rwOTNU
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 17, 2023
Cole was helped in the 2nd by a great diving catch by Harrison Bader in center.
Scheduled defense tweet.@aybaybader 👏 pic.twitter.com/9LThInjWga
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 17, 2023
Cole got into more trouble in the 3rd — with 2 outs consecutive soft singles and a walk loaded the bases — but Cole got Whit Merrifield to foul out to Anthony Rizzo at 1st.
Cole then cruised into the 6th, where he got out of another jam — a leadoff walk then 1-out single by Alejandro Kirk put 1st and 2nd and 1 out — with Cole at 95 pitches. But Cole needed one more pitch — a 5-4-3 double play by Jansen — to end the inning.
Cole allowed consecutive singles to start the 7th and was gone. Clay Holmes came in and retired the next 3 batters — foul out, strikeout, ground out.
Cole’s final line: 6 innings, 7 hits, 0 runs, 6 K’s, 2 walks. No decision but lowers his ERA: his record is now 5-0 2.01.
2. Bassitt Great
Meanwhile Chris Bassitt was even better: 7 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 7 K’s, 1 walk. No decision but lowers his ERA: his record is no 5-2 3.05.
NY put a runner on 2nd several times against him — 1st and 2nd with 2 outs in the 2nd, and runner on 2nd with 1 out in the 4th — but couldn’t come up with a clutch hit.
Chris Bassitt, Filthy 76mph Breaking Ball. 😷
7th K thru 6 pic.twitter.com/4YpBryafgK— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 18, 2023
3. Holmes, Cordero, & King Good
Holmes was heroic in the 7th — getting 3 straight outs after Cole left with 1st and 2nd nobody out.
Jimmy Cordero rope-a-doped the 8th — consecutive singles to lead off — but then was helped by a spectacular play by Anthony Volpe — who leaped for a line drive over 2nd — caught it and flipped to Gleyber Torres at 2nd to double off the runner for the double play.
We'll take ✌️ pic.twitter.com/5om0qskzg8
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 18, 2023
Cordero walked Dan Jansen before getting the final out of the 8th on a fly.
Michael King walked two batters in the 9th — it was 1st and 2nd, 1 out — but he then got ground out and fly out to end it. Phew.
4. Yanks Couldn’t Score in 10th
But the Yanks just couldn’t score. In the 10th, they got inherited runner Oswaldo Cabrera to 3rd with 1 out — but Toronto ace reliever Jordan Romano struck out Gleyber Torres.
Aaron Judge was intentionally walked and then stole 2nd — but with 2nd and 3rd, 2 outs, Romano struck out Anthony Rizzo.
Jordan Romano ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/OQO5gvlgrT
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 18, 2023
5. Blue Jay Walkoff on Wandy
And then finally in the bottom of the 10th, Anthony Volpe made an error to start the inning — putting 1st and 3rd nobody out. That essentially did it.
Wandy Peralta got a groundout to 2nd — putting 2nd and 3rd, 1 out. He needed a strikeout — came in with an 88-MPH slider on 1st pitch and Dan Jansen parked it for a 3-run homer and the old ballgame.
DJ has decided this will be the final song of the night 🎶 #WALKOFF pic.twitter.com/oOkqY7wO04
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 18, 2023
Etcetera
- Aaron Judge went 1-3 with 2 walks and a stolen base. He is now batting .272 (.377 OBP).
- Willie Calhoun went 1-3 with a walk.
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