Three home runs power Yankees to sweep Blue Jays in doubleheader

The Yankees swept Sunday’s doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays by taking the second game by a score of 5-1.

Here are the takeaways…

-Coming off a clunker in his second start of the season, Clarke Schmidt rebounded and turned in a solid outing against the Blue Jays. Still trying to get his legs under him after starting the season on the IL, the right-hander tossed five innings and allowed one run on one hit and four walks while striking out six. He threw 90 pitches (52 strikes).

The lone hit Schmidt allowed was a solo shot to Anthony Santander in the third inning that tied the game at 1-1 at the time. The 29-year-old didn’t factor into the decision as he left the game with the score still knotted at one apiece. It wouldn’t be until the sixth inning when the Yankees took the lead.

-Facing Chris Bassitt who was locked in a pitcher’s duel with Schmidt for the first half of the game, Aaron Judge led off the inning with a solo home run, his eighth of the season, to put New York up by one. It was Judge’s only hit of the game as the designated hitter.

With two outs and a runner on second, Bassitt had a chance to escape the inning without further damage but allowed an RBI double to Jasson Dominguez that doubled the Yanks’ lead and knocked the right-hander out of the game. Dominguez finished 2-for-4 and is hitting .238 this season.

-A third run in the inning came around to score after J.C. Escarra singled off reliever Brendon Little. The backup catcher had an even cooler moment in the eighth inning, hitting a no-doubter for his first career home run to put the Yankees ahead 5-1. Escarra had two hits in four tries as he continues to try and find it at the plate in his first MLB season.

-New York’s bullpen was nails as the combination of Tim Hill, Mark Leiter Jr., Fernando Cruz and Luke Weaver pitched four scoreless innings. Leiter Jr. struck out the side in his inning of work while Weaver has still yet to be scored upon in 14 innings this season.

–Trent Grisham got things started with a leadoff home run in the opening frame, already his seventh home run in just 57 at-bats. To put that into perspective, Judge has hit eight in 106 at-bats. In a reserve role, Grisham is now hitting .298 with a 1.069 OPS and is making his case to manager Aaron Boone to put him in the lineup on a more consistent basis.

-After hitting a home run in Game 1, Anthony Volpe went 2-for-4 in Game 2 to finish off a four-hit day for the shortstop.

–Cody Bellinger continues to struggle in his first season in New York after an 0-for-4 game lowered his batting average to .191 to go along with a .570 OPS.

Game MVP: Yankees pitching

Despite the offense hitting three home runs, New York’s pitching is what really stood out by holding the Blue Jays to one run on three hits.

Highlights

What’s next

The Yankees head to Baltimore for a quick road trip to take on the Orioles for three games starting on Monday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

RHP Will Warren (1-0, 4.79 ERA) pitches for New York while the O’s have yet to announce a starter.

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