Yankees unravel in ugly fifth inning, suffer another loss to first-place Blue Jays
Yankees manager Aaron Boone, second from right, stands on the mound to speak with pitcher Carlos Rodón during the fifth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto on Monday. Credit: AP/Thomas Skrlj
TORONTO — Giancarlo Stanton spoke resolutely — as he typically does — late Sunday afternoon in Atlanta looking ahead to the monster series on tap starting Monday night against the first-place Blue Jays.
“It’s [a big series], but we’re ready,” Stanton said after the series-clinching victory over Atlanta. “We’re ready.”
The veteran designated hitter certainly was. But he was about the only one.
After Stanton gave the Yankees an early lead with a fourth-inning homer, the offense went back to slumber mode and that slim one-run edge soon vanished in a disastrous slapstick fifth inning as errors by Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe helped the scorching-hot Blue Jays score four times en route to a 4-1 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 41,788 at Rogers Centre.
The Yankees (55-45), swept in four games here June 30-July 3, fell four games behind the Blue Jays (59-41), who have won 17 of their last 21 games and 33 of their last 46, in the American League East.
“I’m concerned about us playing well and getting consistent, where it’s been a month now where we haven’t been our best,” said Aaron Boone, whose team has lost 20 of its last 33 games. “We haven’t been our best and we need to, obviously, start playing better consistently and putting wins in the win column. That’s all we can really worry about.”
Carlos Rodon, fresh off an appearance in last week’s All-Star game, was victimized by the Peraza and Volpe errors, though the lefthander wasn’t especially sharp. Rodon (10-7, 3.10 ERA) allowed four runs (two earned) and six hits in five innings, walking a season-high five batters while throwing 107 pitches.
“They’re playing good baseball right now. Obviously, you can tell,” Rodon said of the Blue Jays, who are now 6-2 against the Yankees this season. “We’re up 1-0 and they put up four runs in the fifth. They strung together some good at-bats. They’re playing really well.”
Toronto righthander Kevin Gausman, 10-10 with a 3.87 ERA in his career against the Yankees, including 0-1 with a 9.39 ERA in two starts this season, allowed the Stanton homer and not much else. Gausman surrendered four hits and two walks in seven innings, striking out eight.
Righthander Yariel Rodriguez got out of a two-on, one-out jam left for him by lefthander Brendon Little by retiring Stanton on a lineout to center and Jasson Dominguez on a grounder to second. Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman struck out Paul Goldschmidt, Austin Wells and Ben Rice — pinch hitting for Volpe — in the ninth to earn his 24th save in 28 chances.
The offense certainly wasn’t good but the headline of the night was the bottom of the fifth.
The Blue Jays, who loaded the bases twice in the first four innings without pushing a run across, trailed 1-0 entering the bottom of the fifth. Rodon walked George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled to left before Bo Bichette lined an 0-and-1 changeup into the corner in left for a two-run double that gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead.
The inning got worse. Much worse. Alejandro Kirk, already with two doubles in the game, flied to left and Davis Schneider popped to short, though the latter made Rodon throw 14 pitches in the at-bat that drove his pitch count to 96. Myles Straw followed with a grounder to third that Peraza threw away, allowing Bichette to score and make it 3-1.
“I felt like I rushed through the sequence,” Peraza said through an interpreter. “I noticed the runner was running very well, so my positioning there wasn’t the best, and it cost us. Rodon is pitching a good game . . . a play I have to make.”
Straw took second on the wild throw and came in when Goldschmidt couldn’t scoop Volpe’s low throw on Leo Jimenez’s grounder, which made it 4-1.
“I rushed the throw, pulled it, and gave Goldy a tough pick to handle,” Volpe said.
It was Volpe’s team-high 12th error after making 16 all of last season and 17 in his Gold Glove rookie season in 2023.
“Any time you get a ball hit to you, you expect it to be an out,” Volpe said. “When it doesn’t happen, it’s frustrating.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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