Tonight the New York Yankees faced the Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo for game two of a three-game set after clawing their way to a win last night 6-5. Tonight the Yankees were hoping to take the series from the Jays after being swept by the Philadelphia Phillies. Entering the game, the Yankees were 34-32, and the Blue Jays were 33-32. It was a cool night in Buffalo, 68, but it felt much colder with the breeze. The Yankees won the game 3-2 Gary Sanchez’s pitch hit two run homer and a nail-biting ninth inning.
In the first inning against Ross Stripling, DJ LeMahieu reached first base on a mishandled ball. Aaron Judge singled for two on and no outs. Gleyber Torres walked for the bases loaded in the first inning with no outs. Giancarlo Stanton got a sac fly to right, scoring LeMahieu. Gio Urshela flew out to right moving Judge to third base. Miguel Andujar flew out to right, and Stripling got out of the inning, giving up just one run when the bases were loaded with just one out. At the bottom, Marcus Semien hit the second pitch from Gerrit Cole for a homer to left to tie the game. Bo Bichette singled off Cole. Vlad Guerrero Jr. hit into a double play for two outs in the first. Teoscar Hernandez ground up the middle for a single as Cole struggles to put away the Jays hitters. Randal Grichuk struck out to end the inning. New York Yankees 1 Toronto Blue Jays 1.
Rougie Odor led off the second inning and struck out swinging. Kyle Higashioka struck out. Brett Gardner struck out for the strike of the side for Stripling. At the bottom, Joe Panik ground out to third. Lourdes Gurriel ground out to first. Cavan Biggio worked a walk on a questionable call. Reese McGuire hit to shallow center caught by Gardner. Game tied at 1.
To start the third inning, DJ LeMahieu popped back to the catcher for the first out. Judge ground out to short. Torres grounded out to second for nine in a row for Stripling. Marcus Semien led off the bottom of the inning by flying out to Judge in right. Bichette flew out. Guerrero ground out for a 1-2-3 inning for Gerrit Cole. Game tied at 1.
Giancarlo Stanton led off the fourth inning by striking out for 10 in a row for Stripling. Urshela made it 11 in a row for Stripling. Andujar lined out to first for the final out of the half. Hernandez led off the bottom, and he ground out to Torres. Crichuk flew ut to Gardner at center. During the inning, David Cone mentioned that Coles’s spin rate was down 200 revolutions from his average. Panik flew out to end the inning. Game tied at 1.
Odor ground out to the right side to start the fifth inning. Higashioka flew out to center. Gardner walked after being put down 14 straight times by Stripling. LeMahieu lined out on a diving catch to center. At the bottom of the inning. Gurriel hit sharply to Odor. Biggio hit a home run off Cole to left field. McGuire flew one out to Gardner. Semien ground out. Blue Jays 2 Yankees 1.
Aaron Judge led off the sixth inning, and he struck out. Torres popped out. Stanton reached on an errant throw. Urshela struck out to end the half. Bichette ground out. Guerrero struck out for Cole’s second strikeout of the game. Hernandez reached on a bobbled ball by Torres. Crichuk went down on strikes. Another short inning for both pitchers. Jays 2 Yankees 1.
Miguel Andujar led off the seventh inning by singling down the right-field line. Odor went down looking on a high fastball. Higashioka was pinch-hit by Gary Sanchez. Sanchez hit a pinch-hit two-run 446′ homer off of Stripling. Gardner went down on strikes. LeMahieu faced the new pitcher Rafael Dolis, and he walked on four pitches. Dolis was supposedly injured and replaced by Trent Thorton. The rule is that when a new pitcher comes in, he must face three hitters unless he is injured. Dolis did not appear to be injured. Aaron Judge went down swinging, but the Yankees went ahead in the game. The bottom was led off by Panik ground out to Odor. Gurriel flew out to Andujar. Biggio stuck out looking for a quick inning for Cole. New York Yankees 3 Blue Jays 2.
Gleyber Torres led off the top of the eighth inning; he struck out. Stanton singled to center field. Urshela flew out to right field. Andujar ground out to first. At the bottom of the eighth, McGuire, with Cole still on the mound, grounded out. Semien ground out to LeMahieu, Bichette ground out to Urshela to end the eighth. Yankees 3 Jays 2.
Rougie Odor led off the ninth against Patrick Murphy. Odor struck out for the third time on the night. Sanchez ground out. Gardner flew out to far left to end the Yankees scoring. New York Yankee closer Aroldis Chapman was on the mound for the bottom of the ninth. Guerrero Jr. singled to right. Hernandez doubled, moving Guerrero to third base. Grichuk, with two on and no outs, struck out on a 101 mph fastball. Espinal pinch-hitting hit back to Chapman, and he threw to Sanchez, who made a good throw to third, catching Guerrero off the base for the second out. Gurriel, with two on and two outs, flew out to Gardner in center to end the game with the Yankees taking the series.
The final score was the New York Yankees 3 and the Blue Jays 2. The winning pitcher was Gerrit Cole; the loser was Ross Stripling with the 15th save for Aroldis Chapman and an exciting, nail-biting ninth inning.