The New York Yankees had no mercy for the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday night, sweeping them in a three-game series. The Yankees are now on an eight-game winning streak and have scored 43 runs over the past three games. Hitting double digits in every game against Toronto, they didn’t disappoint on Thursday with another stellar performance.
Winning by a score of 10-7, they broke several records, including an all-time record and a franchise accolade.
Good news and bad news for the New York Yankees:
GOOD NEWS:
The Yankees hit five home runs in one inning, breaking a franchise record and setting another MLB record with three straight games of six homers or more. Their offense has simply been on fire, with multiple Yankees earning at least two hits on the evening.
Lead-off hitter DJ LeMahieu got on base four times, settling with a .373 batting average on the year. Luie Voit continued his insane streak, hitting his 20th homer, leading the MLB. In just his second game back, Giancarlo Stanton had four hits and two RBIs, including a monster line drive that left a dent on the left-field wall. While he was visibly taking things easy on the base paths, he’s locked in, and the Yankees are ready for Aaron Judge to return in full force.
As for the starting pitching, Masahiro Tanaka lasted 7.0 innings, allowing three earned runs and two homers. Overall, he had a solid outing, tossing 91 pitches and finishing with a 3.27 ERA. Despite giving up a couple of runs, I thought Tanaka’s performance was solid, and he worked his way out of trouble on numerous occasions. He has been a consistent threat for the Yankees in the rotation and will remain so heading into the postseason.
BAD NEWS:
The only real piece of bad news came in the ninth-inning when relief pitcher Jonathan Holder simply couldn’t put Toronto to bed. He recorded only one out, allowing three hits, for earned runs, and two walks. It was clear he was having an off night, but Holder has had tumultuous appearances before.
To finish a strong series, he brought the Yankees back down to earth, but heading into a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox, things theoretically should only get easier. Boston is currently 19-32 and will feature Martin Perez on Friday evening, who currently is 3-4 on the year with a 4.33 ERA. Jordan Montgomery will take the mound for the Yankees.