Yankees-Blue Jays Takeaways: Yanks' Dominant Start Continues With Big Series Win

The Yankees faced off against the AL East rival Toronto Blue Jays this weekend in their first divisional series of the year. The Yankees improved to 8-2 this series, taking a 1.5-game lead on the Boston Red Sox before hosting the Marlins with one win on Tuesday. The starting pitching was good while the bullpen's struggles are starting to get alarming.

Game One - Yankees Lose 3-0

The Yankees home opener was an unreal atmosphere as Juan Soto made his Bronx Debut while Marcus Stroman took the bump for the first time at home as a Yankee. Stroman would fire up the crowd before his start and then gave them plenty to be excited about as he pitched six scoreless innings allowing just three hits while striking out six. The issue was the Yankees' offense gave the fans nothing to cheer for getting shut out with only six hits.

The bullpen has its first stinker of the year as Caleb Ferguson and Dennis Santana combined to allow 3 earned runs in 2.1 innings pitched. The day was also disappointing as the Yankees found out that Jonathan Loaisiga would miss the remainder of the season with a torn UCL.

Game Two Yankees Win 9-8

After the Yankees bats went cold on Friday they'd explode on Saturday against Cy Young runner-up Kevin Gausman. Juan Soto would draw a first-inning walk which was followed by an Aaron Judge 425 foot home run to put the Yankees up 2-0 which was then followed by a Giancarlo Stanton 349 foot home run into the short porch to put the Yankees up early.

The Yankees would jump on Gausman again in the second with Volpe, Wells, and Cabrera all reaching base before a Gleyber Torres Sac Fly, a wild pitch, and a Juan Soto single which made the game 6-0 Yankees chasing Kevin Gausman after he recorded just four outs.

Clarke Schmidt would have another decent outing pitching 4.2 innings allowing two runs on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

The Yankees would tack on three more runs with a two-run homer from Anthony Rizzo and a Juan Soto RBI single to put the Yanks up 9-2.

The bullpen woes would show once again making this game tight down the end. Luke Weaver would give up three runs over two innings bringing the score to 9-5. Victor Gonzalez pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless ball before Ian Hamilton gave up three runs over 0.2 innings pitched making the Yankees use Clay Holmes. Clay would go on to pick up his fourth save of the year as the Yankees won 9-8.

Game Three Yankees Win 8-3

The Yankees sent Luis Gil to the mound in the rubber match as they looked to win the series. Gil would give up a run in the third which was quickly overshadowed as the Yankees scored on a bases-loaded walk while Giancarlo Stanton stayed hot hitting a Grand Slam putting the Yankees up 5-1 in the third. Gil gave up another run in the fifth ending his day after pitching 4.1 innings with 2 earned runs on two hits and four walks striking out eight. The Yankees would tack on three from the sixth to the eighth extending their lead to 8-3 allowing Dennis Santana to pick up a three-inning save.

Yankees-Blue Jays Series Takeaways

Marcus Stroman continues to look dominant as he's started the year pitching 12 innings allowing no earned runs with 10 strikeouts, making him an early Cy Young candidate. Giancarlo Staton entered the series with many doubts as he'd been ice-cold, but Stanton answered the bell this series going 4-12 with two home runs and five RBIs. The Yankees will certainly be in the market for relief pitching this deadline as the bullpen looks shaky, especially with the loss of Jonathan Loaisiga. This series went exactly how the Yankees would like outside of game one with the starters giving the team a shot while the team put up massive numbers offensively. The Yankees will need to sweep the struggling Marlins in order to keep this great start going.

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