色色啦

Here’s what you need to know:

The Blue Jays scored a touchdown in the first inning, putting the Yankees on their heels right away. They loaded the bases with nobody out against New York starter Will Warren and two pitches later had a five-run lead.

Alejandro Kirk ripped a two-run double into the right-field corner and Addison Barger followed by murdering a first-pitch changeup, driving it 428 feet off the batters’ eye in dead centre for a three-run home run. Davis Schneider added a two-run shot later in the frame to complete the Jays’ second-biggest inning of the year.

The lead was 8-0 when Jos茅 Berr铆os fell apart in the fifth. He allowed four straight singles to start the inning, then Aaron Judge belted an RBI double off the centre-field wall. An out later, Giancarlo Stanton tightened sphincters throughout Rogers Centre with a massive three-run homer that cut the Jays’ lead to 8-6.

色色啦 led 9-7 in the eighth when Yimi Garcia, making his return from a seven-week absence with a shoulder injury, gave up a game-tying, two-run homer to Judge.

The Jays scored the winning run without a hit as George Springer walked in the bottom of the eighth and immediately stole second. With first base open, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was intentionally walked and both runners moved up on a fly out by Kirk. Springer scored on a Devin Williams wild pitch to break the tie and Jeff Hoffman closed it out for his 20th save.

Fastballs

To walk or not to walk?

The Jays had intentionally walked Judge four times in the series before he came up in the eighth but, with a two-run lead, they let him swing and his 440-foot bomb off Garcia knotted the game 9-9.

The best Judge could do in that situation was tie the game. If the Jays had put him on, the go-ahead run would have come to the plate, leaving even less of a margin for error.

Numbers game

Manager John Schneider was asked before the game if Davis Schneider was in the starting lineup against a right-hander in order to ride the hot bat of the 26-year-old, who had gone 3-for-6 with a walk and three runs scored in the series.

“I think it’s (that) Schneid’s four-for-eight, two doubles, homer off of (Warren),” said the skipper.

Make it two homers.

Vladdy’s a star

Just before Guerrero scored on Barger’s first-inning homer, it was announced that the Jays first baseman was voted in as a starter for the upcoming all-star game in Atlanta on July 15.

It’s the fourth time in the last five seasons that Guerrero has won the fan balloting for a starting assignment in the midsummer classic. Kirk finished second among catchers to Seattle’s Cal Raleigh.

Mailbag

MattD416 found me on Bluesky @wilnerness and asked:聽“Who is your ideal realistic pickup for the Blue Jays at the trade deadline?”

It’s a great question, Matty, and there are so many directions in which to go. A slugging corner outfielder? The Athletics’ Brent Rooker would fit the bill, but he’s not likely to be traded and the Jays wouldn’t run either his or Anthony Santander’s below-average glove in the outfield every day. A terrific starting pitcher? Kansas City’s Seth Lugo would be a great add, for sure. But how about a lockdown reliever?聽

Killer bullpens make a huge difference down the stretch and in the playoffs, and if the Jays could deal for someone like Minnesota’s Jhoan Duran, Kansas City’s Lucas Erceg or the resurgent David Bednar in Pittsburgh, that would be massive.