How to watch New York Yankees games without cable: Video
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TORONTO – A snapshot on May 31 showed the Yankees with a 6.5-game lead on Tampa Bay and Toronto, and a feeling that no serious challenge was rising in the AL East.
And then a funny thing happened on the way to printing 2025 World Series tickets.
That more-balanced Yankees lineup went cold for confounding stretches, the Rays caught fire, and on Monday night at Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays scored a 5-4 comeback win against the Yanks.
That gave Aaron Boone’s club a losing record for June (13-14), and the July 1 standings show the Rays 1.5 games back and the Jays two games behind the Yanks, who are suddenly in danger of declaring second place when exiting Ontario.
“Not our best month. That said, it’s part of the season,’’ Boone said after the disappointing opener to a four-game series, before a sellout crowd on the eve of Canada Day.
Yankees’ Monday blues in loss to Blue Jays
Monday began as a downer, with reliever Fernando Cruz’s diagnosis of a high-grade oblique strain, which sounds like “see you in September’’ for starters.
During Monday’s game, center fielder Trent Grisham caught a spike in the godforsaken Rogers Centre fake turf, and maybe he’s day-to-day or maybe he’s on the IL with Cruz.
Monday’s in-game frustration came in all assortments.
After Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s two-run homer against Cooperstown-bound Max Scherzer, who lasted five innings in his second start back from a thumb issue, Jays’ manager John Schneider stuck to his just-didn’t-feel-like-seeing-Aaron Judge-hit strategy.
Scherzer had struck out Judge looking twice, on the way to seven Ks in his five innings.
But when it was the Toronto bullpen’s turn, they walked Judge with a man on first base and one out in the sixth – only to see Giancarlo Stanton eventually burn them with a two-out, RBI single for a 3-1 Yanks lead.
We’ll get to Toronto’s four-run sixth in a moment.
Judge was passed again in the eighth, after Cody Bellinger’s leadoff shot drew the Yanks within a run, 5-4.
Chisholm Jr. followed with a sacrifice bunt, and the Yanks – despite their best efforts against old pal Chad Green – failed to cash in.
Since Jazz was bunting for a hit, Boone said he didn’t hate the idea against a lefty pitcher with Stanton lurking next.
But, “I always want him swinging the bat,’’ and that seemed to be a better strategy, down a run, on the road, in the eighth inning.
Yankees need to change their tune in July
There were a lot of heavy at-bats against Yanks’ starter Carlos Rodon, who pitched into the sixth and was charged with two runs before Mark Leiter Jr. entered and took another hard-luck loss.
No unearned runs were charged against the Yanks, but shortstop Anthony Volpe wound up allowing the Jays an extra base on two plays that led to sixth inning runs.
On a terrific stab of a grounder to his right, Volpe tried to get the runner crossing from second to third and threw wide – a play Boone didn’t have a problem with but saw from the bench as hopeless.
“We just have to be accurate with the ball,’’ said Boone.
“I’m going to go for that play every single time,’’ said Volpe, seeing it as an aggressive play in the moment, but getting an error for allowing batter Miles Straw to take second.
Three batters later, Volpe threw in vain to first on Ernie Clement’s sure RBI infield single, allowing Nathan Lukes to cross from second to third, where he’d eventually score.
“We weren’t getting outs on those balls,’’ said Boone, now hoping for a better July.