TORONTO — Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah did his part Tuesday to keep the hottest team in the major leagues in check.
The Toronto bullpen didn’t come close to matching his effort.
With Manoah lasting six innings, the New York Yankees feasted on the Blue Jays’ relievers in a six-run seventh while taking advantage of sloppy defence and questionable umpire calls in a 9-1 rout at Rogers Centre.
“When you play close games and you’re not really swinging the bats, you’ve got to make all the plays and we didn’t really do that,” said Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo.
Aaron Judge homered and drove in three runs as the Yankees extended their winning streak to 11 games. He hit a solo shot off Manoah in the sixth inning, the lone blemish in another strong outing from the young right-hander.
Giancarlo Stanton tacked on a two-run shot in the ninth as the Yankees improved to an MLB-best 18-6 on the season.
It was the first time this year that Toronto (15-10) has lost back-to-back games. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., hit two doubles for Toronto while Bo Bichette and Alejandro Kirk added two hits apiece.
The Blue Jays had runners in scoring position in the first and fourth innings, but didn’t score until the fifth when Bichette drove in Kirk from second base with an RBI single.
Manoah settled in after a shaky opening frame and retired 15 in a row before Aaron Hicks lashed a one-out single in the sixth inning. Hicks was caught stealing before Judge tied the game with a solo shot for his ninth homer of the season.
“To tie the game in that spot was big,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “It was definitely a big blow.”
With sidearmer Adam Cimber (4-1) on for the seventh inning, Stanton reached on a Bichette error. The Toronto shortstop knocked down the ball but his hurried throw to first base was wide, pulling Guerrero off the bag.
The Blue Jays challenged umpire Marty Foster’s call but were unsuccessful. New York’s offence soon went to work.
Josh Donaldson drove in Stanton with a double and Marwin Gonzalez added an RBI double of his own to make it 3-1.
Julian Merryweather came on and gave up an infield single to Isiah Kiner-Falefa before getting Jose Trevino to hit a grounder to Guerrero, who threw home to try to get the lead runner in Gonzalez.
After a few throws in a rundown, Guerrero appeared to apply the tag but umpire Ron Kulpa ruled he didn’t make contact. Kulpa checked with third-base umpire Carlos Torres, who agreed with the call.
“I always go by the player because he’s the one making the tag,” Montoyo said. “It seemed like it was obvious because Vladdy really felt it.”
The Blue Jays had already used their challenge and were suddenly down by three runs with Trevino and Kiner-Falefa in scoring position. Hicks drove in Kiner-Falefa and later scored himself on Judge’s gapper as a tight game became a romp.
New York’s Jameson Taillon (2-1) allowed one earned run and five hits over six innings with four strikeouts. Manoah allowed three hits and a walk and tied a season high with seven strikeouts.
Stanton’s blast — his fifth of the year — was measured at 444 feet.
The Blue Jays fell 3 1/2 games behind New York in the American League East standings and will lose a series for the first time this year. The Yankees will go for a three-game sweep on Wednesday night at Rogers Centre.
Announced attendance was 22,491 and the game took two hours 57 minutes to play.
TEO BABY
Teoscar Hernandez kicked off a rehab assignment Monday night by hitting a two-run homer for the Dunedin Blue Jays in a single-A game against the Clearwater Threshers.
Hernandez, who could return to the big-league club later this week, is coming back from an oblique injury. He finished with two hits and a strikeout in four plate appearances.
SERIES FINALE
Left-handers are scheduled to square off in the three-game series finale. Yusei Kikuchi (0-1, 5.52 ERA) gets the start for Toronto against Nestor Cortes (1-0, 1.31)
HITTING THE ROAD
Toronto will hit the road Thursday for a nine-game road trip with stops in Cleveland, New York and Tampa Bay. Sunday’s game against the Guardians, the finale of a four-game set, will end a stretch of 20 games in 20 days for the Blue Jays.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 3, 2022.
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Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press