Yankees Unload Lumber, Sweep Those Pesky Blue Jays

Those pesky Toronto Blue Jays came into Yankee Stadium for a 3-game weekend series. Lance Lynn started the Friday night game, but allowed 4 runs in the 1st inning, and didn't get past the 4th. Between them, though, Chad Green and David Robertson pitched 3 shutout innings.

The Yankees answered that 4-run Jays 1st inning with 2 runs of their own, and then took the lead on Neil Walker's 3-run home run in the 5th. The Jays tied it in the top of the 5th. Then came the bottom of the 5th. Cliche alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Aaron Hicks provided one, Miguel Andujar singled him over to 3rd, and Gleyber Torres grounded into a force play that got Hicks home and gave the Yankees the lead.

Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run in the bottom of the 7th to make it Yankees 7, Blue Jays 5. But after one more at-bat, a strikeout by Hicks, it started to rain. Given how far along the game was, the umpires called it, and the current score became official and final. WP: Green (6-2). SV: Robertson (3). LP: Joe Biagini (1-7).

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Five runs wasn't enough for the Jays on Friday night. Six wasn't close to enough for them yesterday afternoon. Luis Severino wasn't great, but he didn't have to be, as the Yankees broke out the lumber. Didi Gregorius homered in the 1st inning, Stanton did it in the 4th, Andjuar in the 5th, and Greg Bird in the 8th.

Yankees 11, Blue Jays 6. WP: Severino (16-6). No save. LP: Sean Reid-Foley (0-2).

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The Yankees kept pounding this afternoon, and got the sweep. Bird added another homer in the 1st inning, a grand slam. That was all the cushion that J.A. Happ would need, as he got into the 6th inning, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits, just 1 walk, and 8 strikeouts. Ronald Torreyes contributed 3 hits, Torres 2. In addition to Bird's 4 with 1 swing of the bat, Andujar and Kyle Higashioka each had 2 RBIs.

Yankees 10, Blue Jays 2. WP: Happ (14-6). No save. LP: Ryan Borucki (2-3).

Still, the Yankees are 9 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League Eastern Division. There are 6 weeks to go. We are not winning the Division, and we will have to win a single win-or-go-home game just to set up an AL Division Series matchup with the Sox. Add winning that, and it's a tall order for the Yankees to meet what should have been the minimum requirement for the season: Equaling last season.