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Michael Pineda has had a great start to the season, but he tossed a clunker tonight. It was just one of those games. When all was said and done, he surrendered five earned runs through five innings of work, gave up ten hits, walked three batters, and only notched one strikeout. The Yankees went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and although they tried, the offense just couldn’t pick Pineda up.
The Blue Jays got to work early, scoring three runs in the first inning after Josh Donaldson hit a solo shot, and Justin Smoak crushed a two-run home run to right center field. In the third, Jose Bautista worked a lead-off walk, Kendrys Morales singled, and Smoak hit a sacrifice fly to give the Blue Jays a 4-0 lead. With two on and two out in the fourth inning, Luke Maile scored on a wild pitch.
It was a frustrating night for both Pineda and the Yankee offense. They had several chances with runners in scoring position and failed to capitalize on those. Aaron Hicks hit a one-out double and was stranded in the second. In the third inning, the Yankees had runners on first and second with no outs and failed to score.
The Yankees finally got on the board in the sixth inning. After Gary Sanchez singled, Aaron Judge crushed his 18th home run of the season. Starlin Castro followed with a two-run bomb of his own. The Yankees’ last chance real chance came in the seventh inning. With two outs, Judge worked a walk, and Matt Holliday crushed an RBI double. Castro struck out to end the inning.
Although the offense quickly put the Yankees within striking distance, the Blue Jays continued to tack on runs and the game stayed out of reach. Jonathan Holder gave up yet another solo home run to Donaldson during his inning of work. Adam Warren took over in the seventh and things went south in a hurry. Smoak hit a ball to the right side, and for some reason Chris Carter thought that the ball went past Castro. It didn’t. Carter wasn’t able to get back to the bag and recover in time, so Smoak reached on the error. A Devon Travis sac fly gave the Blue Jays their seventh and final run of the game.
This series continues tomorrow with Jordan Montgomery set to face off against Joe Biagini. The game starts at 1:07 EST.