The Yankees headed up to Toronto to face the Blue Jays, who have surged as the Yankees have stumbled, and were 3 games ahead of the Yankees in the American League Eastern Division.
The Yankees went into the Rogers Centre with a chance to send a message: "You've had your fun. Now, it's over. Remember who you are, and remember who we are. We're taking this Division back."
The Yankees did not write that message.
Carlos Rodón started on Friday night, got into and out of trouble in the 2nd and 4th innings, and got a 4th inning home run from Giancarlo Stanton, to lead 1-0 after 4. But the bottom of the 5th was a disaster: Walk, single, double; then a flyout and a popup; then a single and an error by shortstop Anthony Volpe. It was 4-1 Jays, and that's how it ended.
The Yankees took the field on Saturday night as if they meant to make the Jays pay dearly for that, with Jazz Chisholm hitting a 3-run homer off "Warrior God" Max Scherzer, to put them up 3-0 before the Jays even came to bat. But Cam Schlittler, making only his 2nd major league start -- it was Scherzer's 463rd -- allowed a run in the bottom of the 1st. Cody Bellinger hit a home run in the 5th, but the Jays worked their way back against the Yankee bullpen, and tied the game 4-4 in the 6th.
Ben Rice led off the top of the 9th with a home run, and Devin Williams nailed down the save for Ian Hamilton. Yankees 5, Blue Jays 4. It was the kind of game that would be nicknamed "The Ben Rice Game" -- if the Yankees end up winning the Pennant, and if Rice doesn't have a more dramatic moment along the way to a title.
The usually-reliable Max Fried started on Sunday afternoon, and, with Jasson Domínguez hitting a home run in the 2nd inning, took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the 4th. But after getting a popup, he fell apart, allowing single, double, groundout, walk, single, single before getting out of the inning with a groundout. It was 2-1 Toronto.
Volpe tied the game with a home run in the 5th. But Fried got wild in the bottom half, walking 2 batters and making an error on which the go-ahead run scored. Officially, when the pitcher makes an error, any run that results is still charged as an unearned run.
Aaron Judge hit a 2-run homer in the 6th, to tie it at 4-4. But Fried allowed a triple and a double before Aaron Boone finally went to the bullpen, to no avail. It was 6-4 Jays at the end of the inning, and 8-4 Jays at the final.
The Yankees should have sent those pesky Blue Jays a message. They did not. They were nearly swept, and perhaps deserved to be. They left Toronto 4 games out of 1st place, with 60 to play. They have tonight off, and then the Philadelphia Phillies come into Yankee Stadium, which will be a tough series.
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