New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge slides into second base past Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Ernie Clement during the third inning of their game in New York on Sunday.Heather Khalifa/The Associated Press
The Toronto Blue Jays lost a second straight game to the New York Yankees in the Bronx on Sunday, narrowing the gap between the two teams atop the American League East.
The Blue Jays departed Yankee Stadium having lost two of three in the weekend set, after a 4-3 loss left Toronto just two games ahead of New York in the standings.
The Jays had many opportunities to tie or even win the game – and the series – on Sunday but ultimately left six men stranded in the last regular-season meeting with the Yankees.
“Max Fried he’s good pitcher, you know, I think we made him work. Just didn’t capitalize like we usually do,” said Jays manager John Schneider of the Yankees starter. “Looking back on the series, we’re a tough team to strike out, and I think they kind of recognized that and pitched to a little bit of weak contact. There was a lot of breaking stuff and off speed from Max today and we just didn’t get the big hit.”
Toronto was without its slugging shortstop Bo Bichette on Sunday, after he cut his shin while colliding with Yankees catcher Austin Wells sliding into home plate in the sixth inning of Saturday’s loss. Bichette had x-rays during a lengthy rain delay in that game – which were negative – and he kept playing.
But Bichette experienced soreness overnight and the club chose to sit him for the series-closing game. It left a hole in the lineup. He is third in the majors with a .311 average. He has 18 homers and leads the team with 93 runs batted in in 139 games this season. He also leads the major leagues with 181 hits and 44 doubles and is hitting .418 during a 20-game on-base streak.
Toronto Blue Jays pinch runner Addison Barger, right, steals second base during the eighth inning of Sunday’s game against the New York Yankees.Heather Khalifa/The Associated Press
“I think adrenaline probably kicked in [Saturday] and he was moving around and woke up a little bit more sore,” said Schneider. “A timely off day for him [Monday]. We’ll see how he is Tuesday.”
Max Scherzer struck out eight in Sunday’s loss and allowed three hits and four runs in his 14th start of the season for the Jays, lasting four and a third innings. The good news is, Scherzer did not experience back tightness like he had in his previous start. The bad news is, he seemed to be tipping some pitches.
The Yankees jumped on Scherzer early. After an Aaron Judge walk and a Cody Bellinger single, Ben Rice smashed a three-run shot in the first inning, giving the Bombers a quick 3-0 lead. During the Rice at-bat, Bellinger seemed to initiate the pitch-tipping signals on Scherzer’s changeup from first base and relay to Judge who was then on second and waved his arms.
“You can get my changeup out of my glove from first base, something we’ve known. It’s not just the Yankees; we know across the league guys can do that. I’ve had multiple people tell me that,” said Scherzer. “So I thought I had addressed it, thought I’d made the proper adjustments to get my glove in front of my face, but clearly I hadn’t.”
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer last four and one third innings, striking out eight while giving up four runs, all of them earned.Heather Khalifa/The Associated Press
Toronto’s attitude: it happens.
“That’s part of the game,” said Scherzer. “It’s 2025, everybody knows it. We live it. That’s just part of the game.”
Schneider agreed it’s nothing new.
“Yeah, they’re relaying [pitches] … they’re good at it. We got to do a better job of making sure we’re not giving anything away,” said Schneider.
“Major League Baseball knows the Yankees are good when they got something. I’m not the only one that’s going to say it. Maybe I’m the only ones going to say it publicly, but we got to do a better job of making sure we’re not giving anything away … it was pretty clear. Bellinger was giving to Judge, and Judge was giving to Rice.”
Later, Bellinger added an RBI double off the wall in the bottom of the third, which scored Judge, ultimately the game-winner.
The Jays scored two of their three runs in the second inning, as Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled to bring Alejandro Kirk home, and Nathan Lukes brought Ernie Clement in on a sacrifice fly.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. scored the other in the top of the third by slugging a double off the left field wall to score George Springer.
The Jays looked poised to pull even – or even win – a few times. The best opportunity came in the seventh inning when Guerrero Jr. stepped to the plate with the tying run, Addison Barger, standing on second base. The Jays megastar instead suffered his first strikeout of the series.
Yet Clement then took a walk to keep the opportunity alive and add a second Blue Jay on base. But Toronto left both guys stranded.
“It’s two teams that know each other really well, and they made a couple more pitches and had a couple more big swings than we did this weekend, after we played a pretty complete game on Friday,” said Schneider. “Wish today was a little bit different, but it’s 19 big games left.
The first of those 19 games will come Tuesday, after the Jays get a day off. They’ll begin a six-day homestand against the Houston Astros, then the Baltimore Orioles.