Not the start to 2021 the Yankees wanted, as the Spring Training slate began on Sunday with a 6-4 loss to the Blue Jays in a game Toronto led literally wire-to-wire.
The first four innings were rough for Yankees pitching, especially starter Mike King. The righty had two on with two out in the first, but then hit Vlad Guerrero Jr. and allowed a two-run ground-rule double to Rowdy Tellez to get the Jays on the board – and in the second, King allowed a third run when Jonathan Davis singled, stole second, and scored on Cavan Biggio’s double. Overall, King was charged with three runs on three hits, two walks, and two hit batsmen.
In the third, Asher Wojciechowski allowed Toronto’s fourth run by yielding three singles – the last an RBI knock by Davis – and Kyle Barraclough allowed a walk, a stolen base, and a wild pitch ahead of Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s single that made it 5-0.
Meanwhile, the Yankees’ offense was stymied in the first half of the game, going nine up, nine down through three – until DJ LeMahieu led off the fourth with a single. The Yankees brought a run around that inning thanks to a Gleyber Torres one-out double and Luke Voit reaching on an error, but they looked much better in the fifth, battering Toronto’s Jacob Waguespack for three runs on a Miguel Andujar single and back-to-back homers by Rob Brantly and Mike Tauchman – the latter a blast that hit the roof of the party deck in right field.
Adam Warren returned to the Yankees for a scoreless fifth, working around a one-out double, and Lucas Luetge worked around a two-out single in the sixth, but the Bombers went 1-2-3 in the bottom of that frame, setting up the seventh inning to close it out (as per new MLB parameters allowing both managers to agree to limit spring games to seven).
Nick Goody, a former Yankees draftee back with the organization after stints with the Indians and Rangers, got two quick outs before a Logan Warmoth solo homer made it 6-4. Goody quickly got the third out thanks to a nice play in foul territory by third baseman Armando Alvarez, and that gave us a “seventh-inning stretch” of sorts.
Unfortunately, there was no rally in the Yankees’ bones; Alvarez struck out swinging, earlier hero Brantly grounded out to second, and Thomas Milone struck out swinging to end it.
The Yankees are right back in action on Monday, hosting the Tigers in a 1:05 p.m. start that will see Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon take the mound. Our next WFAN broadcast is next Sunday, March 7, with coverage starting at 12:55 p.m. when the Phillies come to Tampa.
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