"Opener Game" Works, Barely, Yanks Beat Jays

When your favorite baseball team goes on the road, and starts a new series against a known good team, and jumps out to a 7-0 lead, that feels good. You certainly don't think they're going to blow it.

Last night, the Yankees almost did. Say this for them: They do love their drama.

Aaron Boone decided to go with an "opener game," starting reliever Jimmy Cordero, and then moving to Jhony Brito, who has usually filled this hole of the rotation caused by injuries to Yankee starters. Cordero pitched the 1st 2 innings, and didn't allow a hit. Clearly, Boone didn't think Cordero was going to pitch a no-hitter, so he brought Brito in, on schedule. From the 3rd through the 7th inning, Brito was just fine, also allowing no runs and no walks, although 3 hits.

Pitching like that deserves run support. It was provided early, with Aaron Judge and Willie Calhoun hitting 1st-inning home runs to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. The Yankees tacked on 2 more runs in the 4th inning, another in the 6th, and Judge homered again in the 7th. The Blue Jays made a big deal about "renovations" to the Rogers Centre in the off-season. If, like the Baltimore Orioles pushing the left-field fence back at Camden Yards, it was designed to make it harder for the Yankees to hit home runs there, it didn't work last night.

Boone let Brito keep pitching into the 8th. Ordinarily, I would encourage this. And if you want to find out whether he can pitch longer than he has so far, this was the time to do it.

But there's a reason I tend to call the Toronto ballclub "those pesky Blue Jays." No matter how good or bad they are, and no matter how good or bad the Yankees are, the Jays always seem to give the Yankees trouble.

Brito ran out of gas, allowing a run on 3 hits, and loading the bases with only 1 out, before Boone removed him in favor of Ian Hamilton. He allowed 2 hits and 3 more runs, making Yankee Fans wonder if maybe, just maybe, we were going to blow a 7-0 lead with only 6 outs to go, but he got out of the inning.

Michael King was brought in to finish the game, and he did, without further damage. Yankees 7, Blue Jays 4. WP: Brito (3-3). SV: King (3). LP: Alek Manoah (1-4).

The series continues tonight. Domingo Germán starts against Kevin Gausman.