Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez homer in nightcap as Yankees split doubleheader with Blue Jays
Aaron Judge #99 of the Yankees celebrates his third inning two run home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during game two of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, May 27, 2021. Credit: Jim McIsaac
After getting two-hit in a 2-0 loss in the first game of a doubleheader on Thursday, the Yankees turned on the power to beat the Blue Jays in Game 2, 5-3, at Yankee Stadium.
In the opener, the Yankees were blanked for six innings by righthander Alek Manoah -- who was making his big-league debut -- and dropped the seven-inning makeup game of Wednesday’s rainout.
Game 2 was a different story. Trailing 3-1, Aaron Judge tied it in the third with a 440-foot two-run home run on a 3-and-0 pitch. Gary Sanchez put the Yankees ahead with a 444-foot solo shot in the fourth.
The Yankees won the nightcap despite not having Aroldis Chapman, who manager Aaron Boone said has been "sick the last two days."
Boone said the Yankees – who had a recent COVID outbreak involving shortstop Gleyber Torres and multiple coaches and staffers – don’t think Chapman’s "bug," as he called it, is related to COVID.
"He’s taken a lot of tests in the last couple days and we don’t believe it is that," Boone said. "No . . . We think we’re OK there."
Chapman tested positive for COVID last July and missed the start of the 60-game season. Boone said he wasn’t sure if Chapman would travel on Thursday night with the team to Detroit, where the Yankees open a three-game series on Friday.
With Chapman unavailable, Chad Green retired the Blue Jays in order in the seventh for his second save.
The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the first on Gio Urshela’s RBI double. Judge, who was on first, was thrown out at the plate on the play.
Jordan Montgomery retired seven of the first eight batters, but walked No. 9 hitter Danny Jansen and leadoff man Marcus Semien with two outs in the third. Bo Bichette followed with a three-run home run into the visiting bullpen in left-center.
Judge answered in the bottom half with a tying blast to center off Robbie Ray that hit off the window of the restaurant above Monument Park. It was Judge’s 13th home run of the season.
Sanchez made it 4-3 in the next inning with his sixth home run. This one went off the back wall of the visiting bullpen. Judge added a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
"I thought a lot of quality at-bats in the second game to salvage a split," Boone said.
In the opener, Manoah walked leadoff man DJ LeMahieu on four pitches. After that, the 23-year-old dominated. The only hits the 6-6, 260-pound righthander allowed were a pair of soft singles by Miguel Andujar, one in the second and one in the fifth.
Manoah walked two and struck out seven with 40 or so friends and family cheering him on from the stands at the sparsely-attended game.
"It was a little odd," Boone said. "Obviously, not a lot of fans in the building and then heavy Blue Jay contingent with his, I'm assuming, friends and family and everything up there, so it was a little unique. A little different, certainly, playing here."
Manoah, who struck out seven Yankees in a row in a spring training meeting, was the first opposing pitcher to make his debut in a start at Yankee Stadium since Tampa Bay's Blake Snell in 2016, and only the sixth to do so since the stadium opened in 2009 (Boston's Henry Owens, the White Sox’s Erik Johnson, Kansas City's Will Smith and Garrett Richards of the Angels).
The previous five combined to go 0-4 with a 6.66 ERA. The Yankees won all five games. Not this time.
"We’ve got to find a way to create a little bit more traffic there and come through in some spots," Boone said.
There were no spots. The Yankees had zero at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Toronto’s runs came on back-to-back two-out home runs by Semien and Bichette in the third inning off Domingo German.
German (4-3, 3.06 ERA) went 5 2/3 innings and allowed three hits with two walks and five strikeouts. He has given up nine homers in 50 innings this season.
Going bowling
The Yankees announced that the college football Pinstripe Bowl will return to Yankee Stadium after a one-year absence because of COVID-19. The game, which features teams from the Big Ten and ACC, is scheduled for Dec. 29.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
