As the weather warmed up, the Yankee bats broke out in a big way against the Toronto Blue Jays. Gleyber Torres arrived, Miguel Andujar proved why he should stay, Aaron Judge and Didi Gregorius became the only pair of teammates with six homers apiece, Jordan Montgomery and Luis Severino provided some much needed length in the starting rotation. All of this resulted in the Yankees taking 3-of-4 from the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.
GAME 1
CC Sabathia was back in action and the bullpen carried the baton the rest of the way. Ronald Torreyes, Gregorius and Judge all had big hits in the 4-3 victory.
JUDGEMENT BOMBS
As always, Judge is appointment television. If you happen to look up though, odds are you’ll see a 3-2 count before he parks one. Sure enough, Judge’s pitch selection was on the money, smashing a full count offering in the seventh inning for what turned out to be the deciding home run.
GAME 2
The Bronx Bombers bats kept slugging but the pitching was a root canal. One can’t help but wonder when Brian Cashman tries to steal Patrick Corbin from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The end result was an 8-5 Yankees loss.
PINSTRIPE POWER
In the second, third and fourth homers by Tyler Austin, Giancarlo Stanton and Andujar helped stake the club to a lead and kept them in the game.
PITCHING PROBLEMS
Sonny Gray was all over the map and you hope he’s not another “stuff guy,” like Jeff Weaver and Javy Vazquez in years gone by. Gray walked four and yielded five runs in 3.1 frames. Domingo German was also wild with four walks and two runs allowed. Adam Warren, now on the disabled list, gave up a homer to Yangervis Solarte.
GAME 3
The Bronx Bombers bats were out in full force and a solid pitching performance helped a 9-1 win stand up.
JUDGIE JUICED ONE
Judge gave the Yankees a lead they’d never relinquish, with a two-run bop to left off Marcus Stroman in the third inning.
SEVEN HEAVEN
Sending 12 men to the plate, the Yankees plated seven runs in the sixth. A three-run double by Andujar and some sloppiness undid the Blue Jays.
AIR JORDAN
Jordan Montgomery came up big, delivering six frames of five-strikeout ball, allowing only one run. It was much-needed length, after a pair of previous starts which didn’t make it out of the fifth. Montgomery more than pitched to the scoreboard, he shined.
GAME 4
Power hitting and power pitching wins more often than not. A 5-1 Yankees victory featured both.
DIDI DOES IT
If it’s not Judge, it’s Gregorius getting the job done. The Yankees star shortstop wasted no time, jumping on ex-Yankee Jaime Garcia, drilling a homer to right in the first.
ROMAINE A PAIN BUT THE ROMINE IS FINE
There was no reason to recall Austin Romine, his two-run single to right, increased the Yankees lead to 3-0 in the second.
NO ONE DOES THE VOODOO LIKE ANDU DO
Andujar was at it again, this time with a 4-for-4 day at the dish. All in an afternoon which included an RBI-double in the sixth.
Miguel Andujar cannot be stopped! The #Yankees' No. 4 prospect has his 1st career 4-hit game, bringing him to 13 hits over his past 6 contests & raising his season average to .308. Andujar leads today's @Yankees top prospect performers: https://t.co/PIj9HgJL9q pic.twitter.com/reoJPiCWCI
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 22, 2018
SEVY SMOKIN’
Severino was dealing like an ace and like Montgomery gave the Yankees quality length. In seven strong, Severino whiffed seven, allowed only three hits and one run.
SAFE?
While it didn’t have any impact on the final outcome, there was a play where Tyler Austin was ruled out at first base. On the replay, it looked as if Justin Smoak‘s foot was off the base. Yet, somehow the instant replay still got the call incorrect. Why even have replay at that point? Strange.
Tyler Austin is … out? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/z0jkRCl4PV
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) April 22, 2018
GLEYBER DAY
Fans were pumped up to see Torres make his MLB debut. Torres went 0-for-4 and left seven on base. Not to make comparisons but Derek Jeter went 0-for-5 in his big league debut and followed it up with a 2-for-3 performance the next night. Better days are ahead for Gleyber.
ON DECK
At 11-9, the Yankees will host the Minnesota Twins in a rematch of last year’s AL Wild Card game. The two clubs will play a four-game series in the Bronx.
Pitching probables, Jake Odorizzi vs. Masahiro Tanaka, Jose Berrios vs. CC Sabathia, Lance Lynn vs. Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson vs. Jordan Montgomery.
