Yankees 0, Blue Jays 5: Offense gets blanked, Deivi García struggles

The lineup the Yankees sent out against the Blue Jays today was quite the strong one, and a group we could conceivably see in a regular season game. Eight of the nine position players will definitely be on the roster, as only Jay Bruce is facing questions around him. Starting pitcher Deivi García has looked good so far this spring, too, and will play a role in the rotation this season.

Unfortunately, that strong lineup wasn’t quite on it today and neither was García. The Blue Jays’ hitting got to him early and often, while the Yankees’ own starting nine couldn’t capitalize on their chances. As a result, Toronto came away with a 5-0 win in today’s game in Tampa.

When García started his outing with a strikeout, it seemed like he was on track to continue his impressive performances. That ended up changing pretty quickly. He allowed a home run to Bo Bichette in the first inning, and then a run on three singles in the second. Finally in the third, Teoscar Hernández took him deep for a two-run shot. García came back out for the fourth, but was pulled after walking the leadoff batter on four pitches. His final line was four runs allowed on seven hits and two walks and two strikeouts in three innings.

In relief of García, Luis Cessa allowed one run after another home run by Bichette. In total, Cessa went two innings, with the home run being the only hit he allowed.

The most impressive pitching outing of the day again belonged to Lucas Luetge. This time, he went 1.2 scoreless innings. The only baserunner came on a walk to Jonathan Davis, who Luetge proceeded to immediately pick off. He ended his day with this strikeout of Randal Grichuk:

Addison Russ, Kyle Barraclough, and Albert Abreu combined to get get the last seven outs of the game without allowing a baserunner.

As a whole, the Yankees’ offense didn’t do much, mustering no runs on six hits and three walks. The closest the really came to doing any damage (at least when the starters were in) came in the first inning. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton both recorded singles, putting runners at first and third. However, the rest of the inning amounted to nothing.

Despite the team not managing to plate any runs, a few players had solid games on an individual level. Most notably, Gary Sánchez went 2-for-3 after his recent struggles at the plate. Brett Gardner also recorded two hits, with one a double, while Aaron Hicks walked twice. In his battle to try and make the team, Jay Bruce struck out in both plate appearances he had. His opt-out decision looms tomorrow.

On Thursday night, the Yankees will hit the road to take on the Phillies. Michael King will get the ball.

Box Score