Game 1: 6/15/21, 7:05 PM (Yankees win 6-5)
On a Tuesday night in Buffalo, in front of only 7,145 fans, the Yanks would come out with a come from behind victory. Yankee starter Jordan Montgomery was not great as he dealt with some bad luck and unfortunate bounces that did not go his way. His final line was 5.1 innings giving up 5 runs on 5 hits while walking 4 and striking out 4. He gave up a run in the 1st inning on a Teoscar Hernandez sacrifice fly. The Bronx Bombers would then tie the game at 1 a piece in the top of the 2nd inning from a towering blast by Gary Sanchez, who is red hot over his last 15 games hitting over .350 in that span.
This game would not be tied for long as the following inning the Jays would tack on another run to take the lead. Yankee rookie Chris Gittens, tied the game in the following inning with his first MLB hit that happened to be a solo shot to center field off Blue Jay starter Hyun Jin Ryu. That hit had to have felt great, as he was 0-17 previously. Once again, the 2-2 tie would not last long as Toronto would score 3 runs in the 4th off Montgomery thanks to Bo Bichette. Yanks continued to fight back in the 6th from an RBI groundout by Miguel Andujar to cut the deficit to 5-3. That would knock Ryu out of the game as he had a quality start of 6 innings 5 hits, 3 runs, 4 walks and striking out 3. The Yankee bullpen was lights out m, throwing 3.2 scoreless innings. Brett Gardner would get the rally started in the 7th with a solo blast off Jays relief pitcher Anthony Castro. Later in the inning, DJ LeMahieu would come around to score on a wild pitch after getting a hit a few moments before. That would tie the game at the time. The following inning in the 8th, Miguel Andujar led off with a single and Yankee speedster Tyler Wade would pinch run and steal 2nd base. 2 batters later, Clint Frazier who came in as a pinch hitter for Brett Gardner would hit a rocket double scoring Wade easily, which would give the Yankees a 6-5 lead that they never gave up. Jonathan Loaisiga would get the win for New York and Chapman with the save. Tim Mayza would get the loss.
Game 2: 6/16/21, 7:05 PM (Yankees win 3-2)
In front of 7,271 fans in Buffalo, Yankees would send out their ace Gerrit Cole, who was practically lights out. Though he did not have his usual strikeout stuff, he only allowed 5 total baserunners and 2 runs in 8 very strong innings. Toronto starter Ross Stripling, pitched very well, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 9 in 6.2 innings. Yankees would score first in the 1st inning on a Giancarlo Stanton sacrifice fly scoring LeMehieu. Blue Jays tied the score off a homer by Marcus Semien. The game would stay tied at 1 until the bottom of the 5th inning, where a Cavan Biggio solo shot would give Toronto a 2-1 lead momentarily. In the top of the 7th, Miguel Andujar would slap a single to start off, looking like he was going to be stranded there with Stripling getting the next 2 outs. Gary Sanchez came in as a pinch hitter with 2 outs against Ross, on a low fastball Gary would send this ball to Pluto to give New York a 3-2 lead that stood. Chapman got into a lot of trouble in the 9th with 2 runners on and nobody out, but thanks to some great defense and awful base running by the Jays, the 1 run lead was all they needed. Gerrit Cole would pick up his 8th win of season and Chapman would pick up another save. Ross Stripling would take the tough luck loss in this one.
Game 3: 6/17/21, 7:05 PM (Yankees win 8-4)
New York came out swinging in this mashing 8 runs and 11 hits in more of a high scoring affair. In front of 7,288 fans, Yankee starter Michael King gave his usual 4.1 innings, giving up 5 hits and 3 runs. This is probably not what you wish from your starter, but he is more of a long relief pitcher to eat innings. Yankees did not need their bullpen in last nights game with Cole pitching, so the bullpen was ready and rested. Yanks had a 3-0 lead, thanks to a fielders choice by Andujar then a long 2-run homer by Gio Urshela. King got into some trouble in the bottom of the 3rd, giving up 2 runs. I actually thought Mike King threw some good pitches in this inning but the Jays fought tough at bat scoring 2. King got into some trouble again in the 5th and was replaced by Lucas Luetge who have up a run that was charged to Mike King. The game would be tied at 3, until the bottom of the 6th where Toronto tacked on another run off Leutge to take a 4-3 lead. The New York offense would explode for 4 runs in the top of the 7th, Rougned would start off with a single as a pinch hitter due to Gleybor Torres leaving the game with back tightness. 1 batter later, Giancarlo Stanton would smash a go ahead 2-run homer to give the Bombers a 5-4 lead momentarily. New York wasn’t done yet, Sanchez and Urshela would both get singles and pinch hitter Chris Gittens would rope 2-run single off Jays relief pitcher Tim Mayza that would ice the game at 7-4. In the 9th, Gittens would get another RBI on a sacrifice fly scoring Gary Sanchez making it 8-4. That would be the final score. Chad Green would get the win for New York while Anthony Castro would get the loss for Toronto.
My thoughts:
What a great series. Loved seeing some clutch Yankee hits and great bullpen pitching in this series. New York’s bullpen only gave up 1 run in 9.1 total innings pitched. Yanks played a great series and it’s always so important to win division games and sweeping a division rival was great. Yanks now trail Tampa Bay by only 6 games for 1st in the division. So much baseball left to be played. Hopefully this is a nice turnaround and these Yankees start racking up a lot of wins.
What’s next?
The Toronto Blue Jays travel to Baltimore, Maryland to start off a weekend series with the lowly Orioles. The Yankees head back home with high spirits to kick off a huge weekend showdown with the 1st place Oakland Athletics. Keep the momentum going!
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