The Yankees fought back from an early 5-run hole, but Ryan Weathers’ rough start and too many missed opportunities ended their four-game winning streak.
The Yankees gave themselves a chance Friday night in Toronto. They just made the climb way harder than it needed to be.
Ryan Weathers allowed 5 runs in the first 2 innings, the offense stranded too many runners, and the Blue Jays held on for an 8-5 victory at Rogers Centre.
Weathers Puts the Yankees in an Immediate Hole
Toronto wasted no time attacking Weathers.
Alejandro Kirk opened the scoring with an RBI double in the first inning before Kazuma Okamoto crushed a two-run homer into the upper deck. George Springer followed with another two-run shot in the second, quickly making it 5-0.
Weathers briefly settled down, but Toronto got to him again in the fifth. He was charged with 6 earned runs over 4 1/3 innings while allowing 5 hits and 2 home runs.
That is now 7 home runs allowed over his last 3 starts, all losses. The Yankees have enough offensive problems without asking the lineup to erase a five-run deficit before the third inning.
Bellinger Brings the Yankees Back
The Yankees had a chance to answer in the second when Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled and both José Caballero and Ryan McMahon walked. With the bases loaded, J.C. Escarra struck out and Trent Grisham popped out.
That missed opportunity looked even worse as the game continued.
New York finally broke through in the fifth. Escarra doubled and scored on Paul Goldschmidt’s sacrifice fly. Cody Bellinger then launched a two-run homer to right, cutting Toronto’s lead to 5-3.
But the Blue Jays answered immediately. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. delivered an RBI double and Kirk followed with an RBI single, pushing the lead back to 7-3.
Grisham Delivers Before Leaving the Game
The Yankees made another run in the sixth. Spencer Jones walked, Caballero doubled and Grisham drove both runners home with a two-out single to center.
Unfortunately, Grisham left the game with right hamstring tightness after sliding into second base. Max Schuemann replaced him.
The Yankees loaded the bases again in the seventh, but McMahon flew out to center. He finished 0-for-3 and left 6 runners on base.
Toronto added another run against Fernando Cruz in the eighth, and Louis Varland retired Goldschmidt, Bellinger and Chisholm in order to finish it.
The Yankees drew 7 walks and had plenty of traffic on the bases. They also left 23 runners on base as a team. They showed some fight, but the early pitching disaster and wasted chances were too much to overcome.
Born in Manhattan, New York, Felix Pantaleon is a Dominican-American digital content creator and the founder of NYYNEWS, one of the first and longest-running independent New York Yankees content creator platforms, active since 2005.
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