There’s been a lot of talk lately about the Toronto Blue Jays offense, especially at home at Sahlen Field, as it should. They put up a 10-run inning in Monday’s win and they’ve been hitting with league-leading numbers in many statistical categories at home.
However, Tuesday’s win was all about the pitching in their 2-1 win over the New York Yankees.
Five pitchers combined for a very solid outing, holding the Yankees to just one run in the game. Toronto starter Taijuan Walker pitched four innings, gave up no runs and just two hits. The bullpen, which came into the season with some question marks, came through on a night where the usually high-powered offense needed some support from the pitching staff. Shun Yamaguchi, A.J. Cole, Anthony Kay and Rafael Dolis all provided solid relief work from the mound as the Blue Jays held the Yankees to just five hits in the entire game.
As far as the offense goes, the Blue Jays may have gotten the runs in an unexpected spot in the lineup. They got just enough run support from the bat of a player making his season debut. In his first at-bat of the season, Jonathan Davis crushed a two-run home run to left-center field that gave Toronto a 2-0 lead after two innings. Davis spent the first 40 days of the season in Rochester at the team’s alternate training site before being inserted into the lineup for Tuesday’s game.
The Yankees' lone run came in the fifth inning after a sacrifice fly from Mike Tauchman.
New York’s J.A. Happ pitched very well in the loss. Happ struck out 10 Toronto batters in 6.1 innings of work.
Check out the full box score of the game here:
Toronto now leads New York in the American League East by three games for second place. The three-game series concludes in Buffalo on Wednesday night at 6:37 p.m. at Sahlen Field.
NOTES:
- Davis’ home run in the game was the 29th home run hit by the Blue Jays at Sahlen Field in 15 games this season.
- Blue Jays first baseman Rowdy Tellez's career-high nine-game hit streak came to an end. He went 0-for-3.