Home, Sweet Home, Blue Jays crush Yankees, 11-5
The Blue Jays just love hitting at Sahlen Field. Toronto started their final week at their home away from home with a loud 11-5 thumping of the New York Yankees on Monday night. Randal Grichuk and Alejandro Kirk both hit home runs after the Blue Jays batted around in back-to-back
The Blue Jays just love hitting at Sahlen Field.
Toronto started their final week at their home away from home with a loud 11-5 thumping of the New York Yankees on Monday night. Randal Grichuk and Alejandro Kirk both hit home runs after the Blue Jays batted around in back-to-back innings in defeating the Yanks for the third time in four tries in Buffalo.
The win keeps Toronto in the mix for second place in the American League East division. At 28-26, they now trail New York by three games with three more to play against their rivals this week at Sahlen Field.
Toronto sent nine men to the plate in both the fourth and fifth innings with most of their damage done with singles. Bo Bichette and Teoscar Hernandez had back-to-back RBI-knocks in each of the frames and of the nine combined hits in the rallies, only three went for extra-bases.
Alejandro Kirk began his big night at the plate with an opposite field single in the fourth as Toronto trailed 1-0. After a Cavan Biggio walk, Bichette reached across the plate to pull a single into left field to tie the score. Hernandez then lined another single into centerfield to give the Blue Jays the lead.
Two batters later, Grichuk kept the rally going with a base hit into right, scoring Bichette. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. then roped a double into the left field corner to cash in two more runners and complete the five-run rally.
Are 9 hitters a bat-around inning? 🤔
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 22, 2020
Ah well, here are FIVE runs! pic.twitter.com/ADhfsper2J
The fifth inning was almost a carbon copy of the fourth for the Blue Jays with Kirk once again leading off with a hit, this time a double to left. Another Biggio walk and two more singles from Bichette and Hernandez to score runs made it 7-1 Toronto. This time Guerrero’s double, another screamer into left, scored just one but gave Toronto the 9-1 lead.
With the game out of hand, it was time for some more history at Sahlen Field. Already with three hits to his credit, Kirk launched a home run over the wall in right field for his first career Major League blast. At 21 years old, he became the youngest Blue Jays catcher to hit a home run in franchise history and the youngest in MLB since former Bisons Dioner Navarro in 2005.
Beam him up 🚀
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 22, 2020
Captain @alejandro_kirk just hit his FIRST @MLB homer! pic.twitter.com/LiSMtlaw64
The 11 runs give Toronto 120 in their 20 games at Sahlen Field, or 6 runs a game. The Blue Jays are 13-7 in Buffalo.
On the mound, the Blue Jays got a boost from the return of starter Matt Shoemaker. Out since August 22 with right shoulder inflammation, the veteran allowed a run on three hits in three innings of work. Shoemaker induced inning-ending doubleplays in both the first and second and got Luke Voit to ground out to third with runners on the corners in the third.
Former Bisons T.J. Zeuch earned the win in relief with a fantastic outing of his own. The righty retired the first nine batters he faced with just one ball leaving the infield. The Yankees didn’t get on the scoreboard against Zeuch until an RBI ground out from former Bisons, Gio Urshela, in the seventh, his fourth inning of work.
Last year, @TJZeuch threw a no-hitter for the @BuffaloBisons.
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 22, 2020
His return to Buffalo: 3.1 solid innings đź‘Ź pic.twitter.com/RTghwPvQgI