Severi-No
You probably could not have drawn up a worse start to the Most Important Series of The Season. Luis Severino allowed five of the first six batters to reach base and each of those guys scored, putting the Yankees in a 5-0 hole after the first inning and setting the tone for the eventual 11-5 blowout loss on Friday night.
The Blue Jays finished with 16 hits, including five homers — the first time ever they’ve had that many hits and home runs in a game at Yankee Stadium (old or new).
I think its safe to say that David Price would have no problems pitching at the friendly confines of Yankee Stadium (you know, if he was ever to somehow do that more than a few times per season). He is now 6-0 with a 1.66 ERA in his last eight starts at Yankee Stadium.
He’s the first visiting pitcher to go undefeated in eight straight road starts against the Yankees since Bret Saberhagen from 1985-99. And Price is also the first visitor to win six straight decisions at Yankee Stadium since David Wells from 1987-1991.
Didi Gregorius was a one-man show on offense, going 2-for-4 and driving in four of the team’s five runs, the third time he’s had at least 4 RBIs this season. Gregorius is the first Yankee shortstop to have three games of four-or-more RBIs since Frankie Crosetti in 1936.
Nightmare on 161st Street, Part I and II
There are many words to describe Saturday’s doubleheader and none of them are good. The Yankees allowed 19 runs combined, and were swept in a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium by the Blue Jays for the first time in franchise history. The only other time the Blue Jays took both games of a doubleheader against the Yankees was August 2, 1983 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.
The Blue Jays hit four homers in the slugfest — and combined with their five-homer outburst on Friday — this is the first time ever that the Yankees have allowed at least four home runs in back-to-back games at Yankee Stadium (old or new). The last time they gave up at least four dingers in consecutive games to the same opponent anywhere was in 1977 to the Red Sox.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse for the Yankees after the demoralizing loss in the first game … then the second game of the doubleheader happened. It was another embarrassing loss as the Blue Jays won their seventh straight game at Yankee Stadium, their longest win streak in the Bronx ever. (Remember when the Yankees won 17 games in a row at home against the Blue Jays, spanning the 2012-14 seasons? Yeah, good times.)
The two losses dropped the Yankees to 1-8 against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. That’s their most home losses to any opponent in a single season in the Divisional Era (since 1969).
Ivan Nova had a miserable outing in the nightcap, allowing six runs on seven hits and also squeezed in two wild pitches and hit two batters in his 1 2/3 innings. He is the first Yankee pitcher in the last 100 years to throw multiple wild pitches and hit at least two batters in fewer than two innings pitched.
Once again in the second game, the Yankees offense was a one-man show, this time starring Brett Gardner. He hit two three-run homers, driving in six of the Yankees seven runs in the 10-7 loss. Gardner is just the third player in franchise history with at least six RBIs in a loss at Yankee Stadium. The others were Bernie Williams on June 17, 2000 vs. the White Sox and Mike Stanley on August 10, 1995 against the Indians.
Masa-Hero
This is what aces do. Masahiro Tanaka was masterful in shutting down the powerful Jays lineup on Sunday afternoon, throwing seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts as the Yankees avoided the sweep with a 5-0 shutout.
Tanaka — who gave up one run and struck out eight in a complete game win in his last start against Toronto — joined David Cone (1997) as the only Yankees with consecutive games of at least seven innings pitched, no more than one run allowed and at least seven strikeouts against the Blue Jays.
Dustin Ackley went 2-for-2 and drove in three runs with a homer and a sac fly, giving the Yankees a huge boost against the knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Ackley is now 6-for-13 (.462) with two homers in his career off Dickey, the second-highest batting average by any lefty with that many at-bats vs. Dickey.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.