Yankees grind out 7-6 win over Blue Jays as Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr. homer

The Yankees avoided a would-be skid after consecutive Subway Series losses Monday when they opened their four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays with a 7-5 win in Monday’s opener at Yankee Stadium.

Takeaways

1. Ryan Weathers allowed a season-high-tying seven hits, including two home runs that surrendered the Yankees’ early lead, leaving mixed feelings about his start. The southpaw followed three shutout frames by serving up a three-run homer against Ernie Clements that put the Blue Jays up 3-1 and, after New York scrapped in the bottom half to tie the game, got taken deep on George Springer‘s fifth-inning solo shot as Toronto pushed ahead 4-3. Weathers (3.58 ERA) flashed his stuff, striking out seven and walking none while throwing 59 strikes on 90 pitches in 5.1 IP, but he was not his best. Will he stay in the rotation as the Yankees look to welcome back ace Gerrit Cole?

2. Paul Goldschmidt owns Patrick Corbin. As New York’s leadoff-batting first baseman with Ben Rice hitting second and getting the start as the Yankees’ designated hitter, Goldschmidt took the Blue Jays’ southpaw into the shorth porch in right field for a first-pitch home run that set the tone. Goldschmidt, who improved to 7 for 15 with two homers in his career against Corbin, went year for the fifth time — and third as the New York’s leadoff man — this season. He added a game-tying double in the fourth inning for his third time with multiple hits over his past four games, proving his worth as a veteran option behind Rice on the Yankees’ bench this year.

3. Two-run home runs by Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the seventh inning pushed New York ahead as the big-time swings that Aaron Boone‘s team needed after coming up short across both of the past two losses at the Mets. The four-run frame proved vital when the Blue Jays scored a run in the ninth inning and the Yankees had enough cushion to ultimately survive.

4. Anthony Volpe, whom New York called up last Wednesday and debuted with an 0-for-6 start across his first three games back, is heating up. He followed Sunday’s 2-for-3, three-RBI effort at the Mets with a 2-for-4 game against Toronto. Volpe, who stole two bases and hustled to score a run on J.C. Escarra‘s sacrifice fly in the fourth inning that kept the Yankees within 3-2 of the Blue Jays, is trending up at a time when the Yankees (29-19) need a spark.

Who’s the MVP?

Goldschmidt, whose leadoff homer in the first and two-out RBI with the Yankees trailing 3-1 three frames later went a long way for New York before Bellinger and Chisholm stepped up with clutch long balls later on.

Highlights