The New York Yankees won their 11th straight game on Tuesday evening by a score of 9–1 against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Bombers are just one game away from four consecutive series sweeps, hosting Nestor Cortes on the mound Wednesday night.
The Yankees have completely turned around their season after a difficult start, but slugger Aaron Judge propelled them to their 18th win thanks to a solo homer in the 6th inning and double to deep centerfield in the 7th inning, driving in Aaron Hicks and Jose Trevino.
Let’s take a look at the news from the win.
Good news and bad news for the Yankees after the win against Toronto:
As stated above, Judge was on an absolute tear, going 2-for-5 with three RBIs. He did strike out three times, but those numbers aren’t necessarily relevant given his impact. Judge currently hosts a .303 average with a .674 slugging percentage. Giancarlo Stanton also had a solid game, smacking a two-run homer in the 9th inning 444 feet away. The team as a whole struck out 12 times, which is on par with their average, but they were also extremely dangerous with runners in scoring position.
“Everything is clicking,” Stanton said. “Timely hitting, the pitching has been great. We’ve just got to keep it going.”
After failing to score until the 6th inning, the Yankees completely opened up the game in the 7th when Josh Donaldson drove in Giancarlo Stanton after a double to centerfield. Marwin Gonzalez doubled to left field immediately after, and the Bombers continued to hit, posting five runs.
As for the pitching, Jameson Taillon lasted 6.0 innings, allowing five hits and just one run. He struck out four batters, lowering his ERA to 2.84 on the season. While Taillon likely wanted to surpass 71 pitches, he did a solid job and handed over a quality performance to the bullpen, who blanked Toronto the rest of the way.
Taillon isn’t known for his high strikeout rates, but he is averaging a career-high 85.3% left on base rate and 42.3% ground ball rate, per Fangraphs.
The Yankees hope to secure their 12th consecutive win on Wednesday with Cortes on the mound, who currently hosts the team’s best ERA at 1.31 and a 12.19 strikeouts per nine rate. He has been the bonafide ace for the Bombers, but Toronto isn’t an easy team to defeat, so he will have to be on his “A” game.