The Toronto Blue Jays used good pitching and continuous hitting to rout the New York Yankees 10-1 in Game 1 of the ALDS.
Yankees starter Luis Gil didn’t reach the fourth inning, as the Blue Jays recorded four hits off him, two of them solo home runs from Alejandro Kirk and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that gave Toronto an early 2-0 lead.
Through five innings, the Yankees had no answer for Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman, who kept the aggressive Bronx Bombers’ bats quiet. It wasn’t until the top of the sixth that he finally got into trouble, loading the bases with no outs. He managed to strike Aaron Judge out in an eight-pitch at-bat, and then he walked Cody Bellinger to give New York its only run of the contest.
Not clear of trouble yet, Gausman got Ben Rice to pop out before he was relieved by Louis Varland, who faced Giancarlo Stanton with two outs and the bases still loaded. Varland dialed up the speed and struck out Stanton with a 101-mph fastball to end the threat.
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The Yankees’ bullpen, on the other hand, couldn’t keep the Blue Jays off the board. Luke Weaver failed to record an out while facing three hitters, and then Fernando Cruz and Paul Blackburn got rocked over the final two Toronto innings, with seven more runs scoring on seven hits.
During the Blue Jays’ scoring spree in the seventh and eighth innings, Kirk hit a second home run to increase the lead and add to the Yankees’ misery. Toronto is now 72-4 this year when scoring at least five runs.
Game 2 begins at 4:08 p.m. ET Sunday in Toronto. Max Fried will be on the hill for the Yankees against Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage.
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