The New York Yankees broke a four-game losing streak with a season-high offensive performance against the Toronto Blue Jays, which they hope to continue on Saturday afternoon. On Friday night, the Yankees amassed 18 hits in a 16-5 victory over the Blue Jays, winning the first two games of the four-game series. This was their highest run total since scoring 16 against the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 6, 2022.
Juan Soto hit a three-run home run, bringing his season total to 20. More notably, second baseman Gleyber Torres, who had been struggling both offensively and defensively, hit a two-run homer, had two hits, and contributed three RBIs. Torres, who had only two hits in his previous 29 at-bats over nine games, hit his eighth homer of the season.
“Hopefully a little building block for him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said post-game. Before the game, Boone remarked, “We all know what Torres is capable of; he knows what he’s capable of. That doesn’t mean you go out and get a result right away. It’s too fickle of a game in that way. Hopefully just in a good place physically and mentally to go out there and contribute to winning baseball.” Another positive was DJ LeMahieu’s first extra-base hit of the season, an RBI double.
For Saturday’s game, the Yankees will start left-hander Nestor Cortes (4-6, 3.40 ERA), who has a 2-2 record and a 3.55 ERA in 11 career games (five starts) against Toronto. The Blue Jays will counter with right-hander Chris Bassitt (6-6, 3.45 ERA), who is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in one start against the Yankees this season and has a 2-0 record with a 1.00 ERA in four career starts against them.
Toronto’s Isiah Kiner-Falefa continued his hit streak to 12 games with a single and a solo homer. During this streak, he is 17-for-43 (.395) with three home runs and six RBIs and has been hit by pitches five times. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 2-for-5 with a solo homer and two RBIs on Friday. His 12th homer of the season was his fifth in his past seven games, and he has multiple RBIs in five straight games, tying Frank Catalanotto (2005) and Eric Hinske (2005) for the longest such streak in franchise history.
Guerrero has had 13 RBIs in his past five games. George Springer had two RBIs on Friday, bringing his series total to eight. He was hit by a pitch on the hand with the bases loaded and left the game in the seventh inning with a left-hand contusion.
Toronto’s bullpen is struggling, with Jordan Romano and Yimi Garcia out due to elbow issues. After allowing 12 runs (10 earned) on Friday, the Blue Jays’ bullpen ranks 28th in the majors with a 4.78 ERA. “You need everyone, really, and in isolation, tonight wasn’t ideal,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “Just rewinding it a little bit, Yusei (Kikuchi) pitched too well to have that game end where it did. I think that before the sixth inning, there were spots where we could have added runs or played a bit cleaner. I just hate to waste an outing like that.”
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