Things went downhill quickly for the Yankees at Rogers Centre on Sunday afternoon. And now they’re on the brink of postseason elimination.
Toronto rookie Trey Yesavage set a Blue Jays postseason record with 11 strikeouts through five innings of Game 2 of the ALDS against the Yankees. He was backed by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hitting a grand slam in the fourth inning as the Blues Jay won 13-7 and took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
Vladimir Guerrero crushes grand slam, extending Blue Jays’ lead over Yankees
Yesavage, a 22-year-old right-hander, was selected by Toronto with the No. 20 pick last year in the amateur draft. He rose through four minor league levels this season before joining the Blue Jays and going 1-0 in three September starts.
Known for his elite split-finger fastball, Yesavage set a Blue Jays record by striking out nine Rays batters in his Sept. 15 debut. Seven of Yesavage’s first 10 strikeouts Sunday came on his splitter. The other three came on fastballs that reached 96 mph.
Toronto thumped the Yankees 10-1 on Saturday in Game 1, and backed Yesavage with five runs in the first three innings Sunday to lead 5-0 against New York’s Max Fried.
The Blue Jays’ bats backed Yesavage in a big way. Toronto scored two in the second on an Ernie Clement home run and then added three more in the third inning.
Then, the fourth inning. Guerrero hit a grand slam, and then Daulton Varsho hit a two-run home run two batters later to give Toronto an 11-0 lead.
George Springer added a solo home run in the fifth inning to make it 12-0. The Yankees finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth with a two-run shot by Cody Bellinger, before the Jays scored again in the bottom of the frame on Daulton Varsho’s solo home run.
The Yankee bats woke up in the seventh inning and scored five runs but still wasn’t enough to overcome the early deficit.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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