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This series against the Blue Jays did not get off to the most promising start. After Thursday's game was rained out, forcing the two teams to play a doubleheader tomorrow, the Yankees needed length from Luis Severino and he just wasn't able to provide that tonight. Severino was chased early, forcing the Yankees to turn to the bullpen. The offense tried to fight its way back into the game, but every time the Yankees scored, the Blue Jays immediately tacked on more runs.
The Blue Jays scored early and often, and managed to maintain the lead for the entire game. Severino's seventh start since being promoted to the majors got off to a rocky start. Ben Revere hit a leadoff double, then Severino took a tumble off the mound following through on a pitch to Josh Donaldson. Donaldson put the Blue Jays on the board with a two-run shot. They added on three more runs after an RBI single by Troy Tulowitzki and another two-run home run off the bat of Justin Smoak. The Blue Jays tacked on another run in the third inning before Severino was pulled from the game, having allowed six earned runs and three walks while recording four strikeouts. The Yankee bullpen didn't fair much better. Chris Martin gave up a two-run home run to Edwin Encarnacion, Russell Martin hit a solo shot off of Andrew Bailey, then hit a two-run homer off Chasen Shreve later in the game. Only Caleb Cotham and Branden Pinder managed to work clean innings against the Blue Jays.
On the other side, the Yankees didn't get anything going until the third inning, when Brendan Ryan doubled, Jacoby Ellsbury singled, and Brett Gardner hit a sac fly. Didi Gregorius provided most of the Yankees' offense tonight, hitting an RBI single in the fourth inning, followed by a three-run home run in the sixth. Almost everyone in the lineup got at least one hit, except for Brian McCann and Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod looked particularly bad at the plate tonight and earned a golden sombrero after striking out four times.
With two games tomorrow, the Yankees could still tie or even win the series, but it'll be much more difficult. Michael Pineda will start the first game against Marco Estrada at 1:05 EST on FOX. The second game will start 30 minutes after the first game ends and will feature Ivan Nova going up against Marcus Stroman on YES and MLBN.