Gassed by Gausman; Undone by Defense. Toronto 4 NY 1

July 22, 2025 paperbacklou 2025 0
Big G with a HR in the 4th to put NY up 1-0.

Kevin Gausman threw 7 innings of 4-hit, 1-run ball, and the Yankee defense deserted Carlos Rodon in the 5th — turning a 2-run inning into a 4-run inning — as the Blue Jays beat NY 4-1 on a Monday night in Toronto.

Giancarlo Stanton hit a HR in the 4th to give NY a 1-0 lead, and Carlos Rodon was pitching a shutout into the 5th, when he allowed a walk, single, and double to Bo Bichette, making it 2-1 Toronto.

But Rodon buckled down to get the next 2 outs — and then had to get the 3rd out 3 times — as both Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe made throwing errors on consecutive 3rd-out plays, each allowing Toronto to score another run.

Down 4-1, Gausman continued the job of gassing the Yanks through 7, and the Toronto bullpen finished the job.

“I thought his stuff was good,” said manager Aaron Boone about Gausman. “I thought we got some good swings off; we hit some balls on the screws against him. I thought it was some of the better stuff he’s had against us in the last several starts. There was an uptick in the consistency of his fastball, to go along with some good splits that he threw.”

NY falls to 55-45, and are now 4 games back of the 59-41 Blue Jays, who have beaten them 5 straight times (including a 4-game sweep in NY two weeks ago). Boston is 2 games back of NY, 6 out overall.

1. Big G Gives NY a 1-0 Lead in 4th

It was looking tenuously good for the Yanks the first half of the game, as Giancarlo Stanton — who had just hit 4 rockets the game before for 3 singles and was called a singles hitter by Aaron Judge — put one in the air for a HR to left in the 4th. NY 1 Toronto 0.

2. Rodon Undone in the 5th

Carlos Rodon meanwhile, was pitching a shutout — although he got in and out of trouble in the 2nd and the 4th, leaving the bases loaded both times.

  • In the 2nd, a 1-out double by Alexandro Kirk, then a walk, strikeout of Miles Straw, and a 2-out walk by Leo Jimenez loaded the bases with 2 outs — but Rodon got a groundout to end the inning.
  • The 4th was an almost mirror inning– a leadoff double by Alexandro Kirk, groundout, strikeout of Miles Straw, and 2-out walk by Leo Jimenez, and single by Joey Loperfido loaded the bases with 2 outs — but Rodon got a fly out to end the inning.

But Rodon was right back on the ropes in the 5th — and the ropes couldn’t save him. A leadoff walk to George Springer, single by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and double by Bo Bichette plated 2 runs and made it 2-1 Toronto.

Rodon then got a fly out and pop out to hold the runner at 2nd — and then got a groundout to 3rd for the final out of the inning. But Oswald Peraza sidearmed the throw and threw it away, as the runner scored. Toronto 3 NY 1.

Rodon then got the 3rd out again — a grounder to Anthony Volpe at shortstop — but Volpe threw just wide of 1st and the ball popped out of Paul Goldschmidt‘s glove. Toronto 4 NY 1.

Rodon got the 3rd out a 3rd time by striking out Loperfido.

3. Gausman Gasses Yanks

And Kevin Gausman continued to gas the Yanks — pitching 7 innings of 4-hit ball, striking out 8 by throwing almost exclusively 4-seam fastballs that varied in speed from 91 to 95 MPH, offset by a wicked 81-MPH splitter and occasional 82-MPH slider.

4. Effross & Brubaker Throw 3 Shutout Innings

Some good new for NY: Scott Effross looked good in pitching a shutout 6th, and JT Brubaker looked good again in pitching a shutout 7th and 8th — retiring all 6 batters he faced with groundouts and fly outs.

5. Toronto Pen Closes It

Lefty Brendon Little came in for Gausman to start the 8th and the Yanks immediately started to rally — a leadoff walk by Trent Grisham and 1-out single by Jazz Chisholm Jr. brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Giancarlo Stanton.

Righty Yariel Rodriguez was brought in to face Stanton — and Big G flied out to left, then Jasson Dominguez grounded out to 3rd and that was it for the Yanks.

Jeff Hoffman came in for Toronto for the 9th, and struck out the side (Goldschmidt swinging, Austin Wells swinging, and Ben Rice looking) for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401696410

 

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