Yankees bats go quiet, bullpen implodes in 9-3 loss to Blue Jays

After Juan SotoAfter the game was stopped late, the Yankees’ offense struggled and the bullpen collapsed as New York lost 9-3 to the Blue Jays on Saturday.

Here are the key points…

For the 10th consecutive game, the Yankees’ opponent scored first. This time, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gave Toronto the lead early with a two-run shot in the first inning. This is the third consecutive match that Guerrero has succeeded.

Nestor Cortes would calm down until the fourth inning when a leadoff player doubled Justin Turner transformed into another race after a Alexander Kirk double. The Blue Jays hit a lot of hard balls from Cortes who failed to get out of the fifth inning.

The left-handed pitcher pitched 4.1 innings (87 pitches/53 strikes) and allowed three runs on seven hits and one walk, while striking out five batters. Jake Cousins entered the field with men at first and third base with one out, and hit Guerrero Jr. and brought Turner in for a ground ball to end the threat and keep the score at 3-1.

While Cousins ​​did a good job keeping the Jays out of the picture, the rest of the Pen did not. The combination of Phil Bickford And Caleb Ferguson The Cardinals allowed five runs, all by Bickford, on five hits and two walks. Guerrero Jr. had the hit, a bases-emptying double to end the inning with five runs.

Clay Holmes would allow one run on two hits in his only inning of work.

-Without Soto in the lineup, the Yankees struggled to score. They had their chances, though. In the first period, they had men on first and second base and one out, but they couldn’t score a run.

The threat then passed away Ben Rice was caught on third down after a double steal. On third down, Aaron Rechter was intentionally walked with Rice on second base and a base open with two outs. Alex Verdugo Toronto had another chance to intentionally walk Judge in the fifth with a runner on third and two outs, but they threw to the hitter and he made them pay with an RBI single.

– Rice had one of his best days at the plate as a major leaguer Saturday. Rice homered in both holes for Soto and went 2-for-4 with a double, his first extra-base hit in the majors.

Judge went 2-for-3 with a walk and his 80th RBI of the season. Judge became the third Yankee to have 80 RBI before July and joined Sweetheart Ruth (1926) and Lou Gehrig (1927, 1930)

Austin Wells He hit his third home run of the season in the ninth, a two-run home run, to give the Yankees their second and third runs of the game.

MVP of the match: Vladimir Guerero Jr.

The lanky first baseman gave the Yankees fits on Saturday. Vlad went 3-for-5 and drove in six points.

Chris Bassitt deserves some credit. After getting hit by Judge’s line drive, he was in the game to give Toronto six solid innings.

Strong points

And after?

The Yankees and Blue Jays conclude their four-game series on Sunday. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:37 p.m.

Gerrit Cole (0-1, 9.00 ERA) looks to bounce back when he takes the mound Kevin Gausman (6-6, 4.26 ERA)