If I rip somebody when they deserve it, then I must also give credit where it is due.
Clarke Schmidt, who has been a big hole in the Yankees' starting rotation thus far, started the series finale with the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium II this afternoon. He pitched a perfect game for 4 1/3rd innings, before Alejandro Kirk hit a double in the 5th. He also walked a batter, but worked out of it.
But in the 6th, Anthony Volpe made an error, and that led to Schmidt giving up back-to-back home runs to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Daulton Varsho -- both lefthanders, who have given him so much trouble -- to make it 3-0 Toronto. Still, for Schmidt, 3 runs over 6 innings is a huge improvement. Michael King was brought in to relieve, and he got out of the inning, but he allowed another run in the 7th to make it 4-0. Ian Hamilton pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning, but he allowed another run in the 9th.
Kevin Gausman, who used to pitch well against the Yankees for the Baltimore Orioles, started for the Jays, and limited them to 3 hits over the 1st 7 innings. Jays manager John Schneider -- with Yankee "legend" Don Mattingly as his bench coach -- brought Erik Swanson in for the 8th inning, and he did the job.
Schneider sent sidearm pitcher Adam Cimber out to pitch the 9th. Volpe led off with a sharp line drive that was, unluckily, caught. Aaron Judge lined out. Anthony Rizzo, pretty much the only Yankee who's been hitting lately, hit a home run. This was followed by back-to-back singles up the middle by Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu, giving a little hope, but the team got no closer.
Blue Jays 5, Yankees 1. WP: Gausman (2-2). No save. LP: Schmidt (0-2). Hardly Schmidt's fault this time. And I'm not going to blame Volpe for his inning-opening error, either. The Yankees lost this game because they didn't hit.
In 27 innings in this series, the Yankees scored only 4 runs. It was enough to win yesterday, but not the day before, and not today. Giancarlo Stanton is injured, and out long-term. So is Josh Donaldson, and he may be done, anyway. And Torres is in a 4-for-35 slump. Nobody is providing protection for anybody.
The Yankees are 13-9, 6 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Eastern Division. They now head out onto the road, for 3 games in Minnesota and 4 in Texas.
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