Game #149 New York Yankees (98-52) @ Toronto Blue Jays (58-91) - game recap

Brett Gardner was 3-5 with 2 runs scored and 5RBI in a 13-3 rout by the Yankees over the Blue Jays

After a thrilling come from behind extra innings win over the Yankees, the Blue Jays were looking to win the weekend series and guarantee ending the second to last home stand of the season with a winning record. The Blue Jays received expected and devastating news on reliever Tim Mayza. The embattled lefty crumbled to the ground after throwing a pitch way wide left. MRI results confirmed the worst and Mayza will require season ending Tommy John surgery. It's likely that he will miss all of next season as well, given that the injury occurred with two weeks left in the season and typical recovery time is about 18 months. I'll get into it more in my random thoughts post. Today, the Blue Jays sent Jacob Waguespack to the hill against Canadian southpaw James Paxton. Luke Maile and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. were both reinstated from the IL for the last two weeks of play. Only Lourdes was in the lineup today, serving as the DH to ease him back into playing. Danny Jansen got the start behind the plate. Cavan Biggio and Rowdy Tellez both sat in favor of more veteran players Brandon Drury and Justin Smoak. Could the Blue Jays win for Mayza? Here is today's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Yankees opened the scoring in the top of the second as Brett Gardner doubled scoring Luke Volt
• The Yankees added a run in the top of the 3rd on a ground-rule double by Volt that scored Aaron Judge
• The Yankees added a run in the top of the 4th as Gardner hammered a solo bomb to dead center
• Jacob Waguespack pitching line: 3.2IP 7H 3R (all earned) 2BB 4K 73 pitches (45 for strikes)
• The Yankees added three more runs in the top of the 5th as Gardner smashed a 3-run blast to straightaway center also scoring Volt and Gleyber Torres
• The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the 5th as Brandon Drury scored on a sac fly y Bo Bichette
• James Paxton pitching line 5IP 3H 1R (earned) 2BB 3K 101 pitcthes (62 for strikes)
• The Yankees added two more runs in the top of 6th as Torres smacked a two-run blast to left-center also scoring DJ LeMahieu
• A batter later, Volt hammered a solo bomb to dead center
• The Yankees added a run in the top of the 9th as Thairo Estrada singled home Kyle  Higashioka
• Three batters later, Estrada scored on a ground out by Tyler Wade
• Two batters later, the Mike Ford hammered a 2-run bomb to dead center also scoring Clint Frazier
• The Blue Jays got a pair back in the bottom of the 9th as Richard Urena doubled home Drury and Danny Jansen
• Final score: Yankees 13 Blue Jays 3

My Take:

• Jacob Waguespack battled through 3.2 innings, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits while walking 2 and striking out 4. The thing about facing elite lineups like the Yankees is they don't miss mistakes very often. Location of pitches and command are important to be successful against a team like the Yankees. While Waguepack didn't let the Yankees have any big innings, he had three straight innings of the Yankees tacking on a run. He has 2 or 3 more starts this season.
• The only 2 positives from today's game was the returns of Lourdes Gurriel Jr after missing a month with a quad strain and Elvis Luciano, who missed 2+ months with an elbow sprain. Gurriel Jr. was 2-3 and got on base a third time getting hit by a pitch in the 4th. Luciano pitched a scoreless inning.
• Brandon Drury also had a pair of hits and scored 2 of the 3 Blue Jays runs.
• Up next, the Blue Jays wrap up the home stand before heading out on the final road trip of the year. Jordan Montgomery makes his return from TJ surgery against Blue Jays righty TJ Zeuch