Yankees stomp Blue Jays behind Sabathia's quality start

TORONTO – The New York Yankees made their way to the Rogers Centre on Thursday night to take on the Toronto Blue Jays in the first game of a four game series. CC Sabathia kept the Jays off balance for most of the night as he struck out seven over 6.1 innings – allowing just one run. Thursday night’s start marked the fourth straight outing where the big lefty has allowed two runs or less, making the Yankees’ 12-2 victory a comfortable win.

That's a bomb for The Gary Sanchez: 113.2 mph -- his hardest career home run -- and 440 feet, his 2nd-farthest. #Yankees

— David Adler (@_dadler) June 1, 2017

Gary Sanchez was a big reason the Yankees got out to such a big lead early on. The catcher belted two home runs in the second and fourth inning – resulting in a 7-0 Yankees’ lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning. But the Bronx Bombers did not stop there; in the seventh inning they drove in two more runs behind the bats of Aaron Hicks and Chase Headley, making the lead 9-0. Hicks went 4-for-5 with six runs batted in on the night.

If Aaron Hicks is on your fantasy team, you're pretty happy tonight. 4-for-5, 6 RBIs, run scored. — Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) June 2, 2017

Blue Jays’ starting pitcher Marco Estrada came into his start on Thursday night with a 3.15 earned run average and left with a 3.86. The righty has dominated for most of the season, especially his last two starts where he struck out 20 combined batters over 13.2 innings pitched. Estrada was obliterated by the Yankees’ offense, as many starting pitchers have been this season. The righty allowed seven earned runs on nine hits in less than four innings pitched. The lone bright spot for the Blue Jays came on solo home runs by Kendrys Morales and Ezequiel Carrera. Overall, the Yankees have amounted 26 hits in their past two games and improved to 31-20 with their victory Thursday. The first place Yankees now sit three games above both the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles, who are tied for second place in the American League East. UP NEXT: Michael Pineda will take on Francisco Liriano Friday night as the Yankees look to improve upon their three game division lead. Win- CC Sabathia Loss- Marco Estrada