Breaking News: LeMahieu’s hit in the tenth inning secures a victory for the Yankees….
DJ LeMahieu hit a game-winning single through a five-man infield in the 10th inning to give the New York Yankees a rain-delayed 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.
Juan Soto launched a tiebreaking homer in the seventh and Gleyber Torres had two hits for the Yankees, who won for the seventh time in eight games. New York remained tied atop the AL East with Baltimore, which won 9-5 at Cleveland.
“That was a really good win,” manager Aaron Boone said.
Aaron Judge was intentionally walked three times by the last-place Blue Jays, who purposely gave him a free pass with the bases empty in the second inning Saturday.
“It’s nothing against my pitchers, our pitchers — or nothing against anyone else in their lineup,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “It’s singularly focused around how talented Aaron is and the numbers that he’s put up basically at an historic pace. So, the less times he can swing, the better.”
Bernie Williams of the Yankees was the last player to receive three intentional walks in a single game, back in September 1999 against Tampa Bay.
It’s awful. Soto remarked, “You want him at the plate.” It enrages me to see them pass him over. That doesn’t sit well with me. I want them to put him to the test to see how strong he is. Yet things are as they are. It’s all part of the game, and they have their own goals in mind. You honor that.
Due to overall body tiredness, Yankees ace Gerrit Cole returned to the mound last Tuesday after missing his planned start in Philadelphia. After having trouble for a long while in the second inning, the right-hander pitched into the sixth inning, retiring 10 of the next 11 batters.
“I thought he got really settled in as he went,” Boone stated.
In 5 2/3 innings, Cole gave up two runs and six hits while striking out four and walking none. The AL Cy Young Award winner has been sidelined since spring training due to nerve irritation and swelling in his right elbow, which caused him to miss the first 75 games of the season.
Physically, I’m in a better place than I was the other day,” Cole remarked. “It was definitely beneficial to have a few extra days.”
Plate umpire Tripp Gibson dismissed Boone and Yankees hitting instructor James Rowson in the seventh inning for disputing balls and strikes. It was Boone’s sixth expulsion of the season—the most in the majors—and his 39th as a manager. For the past four seasons, he has topped the major leagues in that area.
Boone remarked, “I was going a little early at Tripp.” Really only said, “That’s down,” without saying much more. However, four innings ago, he informed me, “That’s enough.”
It rained for one hour and forty-nine minutes in the eighth inning.
In the bottom of the tenth, Trent Grisham sacrificed Anthony Volpe, the automatic runner, to third base. In an attempt to prevent the Yankees from scoring, Toronto shifted one outfielder into the infield; however, LeMahieu’s crisp grounder up the middle against Bowden Francis (4-3) set up a celebration.
“DJ is a heavy groundball hitter. Simply trying to avoid running into Soto or Judge again and sort of take your chances,” Schneider stated. “He hit it on the ground, just found a hole.”
In a two-run sixth, LeMahieu also scored the game-winning sacrifice fly to help New York overcome a 2-0 hole. After struggling this season at the bat after returning from a foot ailment, he’s finally begun to produce some huge swings lately.
LeMahieu stated, “I feel like I’m feeling much better at the plate and taking some pretty good swings.”
For the victory, Mark Leiter Jr. (3-4) tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
In the eighth inning, the Yankees led 3-2 thanks to a solo home run by Soto off the top of the left-center fence. In the ninth, Alejandro Kirk knotted the game with a sacrifice fly.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the slugger for the Blue Jays, singled to extend his hitting streak to 17 games, but he was out after trying to steal a base one hitter later. Guerrero has 19 extra-base hits during the run and is hitting.508 (32 for 63).
Toronto rookie Yariel Rodríguez allowed four hits over 4 2/3 shutout innings in his 11th major league start.
Kirk and rookie Addison Barger hit consecutive doubles as Toronto sent seven batters to the plate against Cole in the second. Barger scored on a two-out single by Ernie Clement, who finished with three hits.
