NEW YORK — In the first game of a pivotal four-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Yankees were able to take home the victory, 4-3, at Yankee Stadium. While still early in the season, the Yankees cannot afford to fall too far behind the Red Sox, who are currently six games up in the standings.
CC Sabathia, in his return from the DL, gave up just two unearned runs on four hits in four and a third innings of work to set the tone for the team.
Aaron Judge’s moonshot in the seventh then provided the difference for the Bombers in tonight’s victory.
.@TheJudge44 sent this baseball on a quick trip to the moon. pic.twitter.com/cHt1ZM7RmN
— MLB (@MLB) April 20, 2018
The Yankees opened the scoring off of Aaron Sanchez in the second inning with small ball from the bottom of their order. Tyler Wade grounded out to drive in Aaron Hicks for the game’s first run, while Ronald Torreyes, who was playing third base tonight, hit an RBI single to make it 2-0, New York.
For the Blue Jays, catcher Luke Maile provided much off the offense tonight. In the third, he scored on a passed ball by Gary Sanchez to cut the Yankee lead in half.
In the next inning, he drove in Yangervis Solarte, who had reached on an error by Torreyes, with a single to left field to tie the game at two.
Didi Gregorius then hit an RBI single in the fifth, before Judge’s home run off of Tyler Clippard in the seventh.
Toronto would plate another run in the eight but the one-run lead seemed to be enough for Aroldis Chapman.
In the ninth, the Cuban was excellent using his fastball, as he struck out the Blue Jays in order to seal the Yankee victory. It was the closer’s third third save of the season.
Shut it down 🔥 #chapmanswagg pic.twitter.com/TAU6SmZPoI
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 20, 2018
It was a good overall performance from the team as everyone in the lineup, except Wade, got a hit, while the bullpen did a relatively good job keeping the lead.
Giancarlo Stanton was moved down a spot in the lineup in today’s game and finally got a hit to end his slump. He also walked in the victory.
Sonny Gray is back on the mound tomorrow as he will face off with Marco Estrada.
Current Yankees Record: 9-8
