The Toronto Blue Jays added to their first-place AL East lead over the New York Yankees, opening their three-game series with a 4-1 win at Rogers Centre on Monday night. Toronto has won 11 consecutive home games, setting a franchise record.
Kevin Gausman notched eight strikeouts in seven innings, allowing four hits to lead the Blue Jays. The lone run he gave up was on a Giancarlo Stanton home run in the fourth inning, leaving a splitter in the middle of the strike zone.
Toronto took the lead in the fifth on a two-run double by Bo Bichette, reaching low to pull a Carlos Rodón changeup into the left-field corner. That was the third straight baserunner Rodón allowed after walking George Springer and giving up a single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Rodón then retired Alejandro Kirk and Davis Schneider, and looked like he might finish the inning from there. But consecutive errors by the Yankees allowed two more runs to score.
Third baseman Oswald Peraza threw a Myles Straw groundball wide of first base, allowing Bichette to score. That was followed by shortstop Anthony Volpe making a low throw to first on a Leo Jiménez grounder that Paul Goldschmidt couldn’t field on the bounce.
Volpe’s error was his 12th of the season, most among American League shortstops.
“He’s still a top shortstop,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the game. “He hasn’t made a few plays that have generated a lot of noise.”
The Yankees managed only one more hit during the next four innings, with Jazz Chisholm Jr. getting an eighth-inning single off reliever Brendon Little. Jeff Hoffman struck out the side in the ninth, closing out the game by catching pinch-hitter Ben Rice looking at a 97.9 mph fastball down the middle.
With their fourth straight win, the Blue Jays improved to 59-41 and increased their lead over the Yankees (55-45) to four games. Toronto is also a half-game behind the Detroit Tigers for the best record in the AL after Detroit was shut down by Paul Skenes in a 3-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
