Game #48 Toronto Blue Jays (26-22) @ New York Yankees (28-21) - game recap

Joe Panik hit a late-inning solo HR in the second consecutive blowout loss to the Yankees. Toronto fell 13-2 to the Bronx Bombers tonight

After a 20-6 blowout loss last night, the Blue Jays were looking to right the ship, taking on one of the best pitchers in the MLB, Gerritt Cole. Lots of moves ahead of this one (some necessitated by injury, some based on performance). First the bad news, Ken Giles is heading back to the IL with an elbow injury and is likely done for the season. Derek Fisher is also heading to the IL with a knee contusion after getting hit by a pitch during batting practice. Teoscar Hernandez was activated from the IL and available off the bench. Nate Pearson and Matt Shoemaker both threw to live hitters today and one or both could return soon. Hector Perez and Jacob Waguespack were also activated. Anthony Kay was optioned to the taxi squad after a rough outing last night. Tanner Roark, who made some not so nice comments after getting pulled in the 4th inning after throwing 68 pitches last start, was on the mound again. Vlad was back in the field after DH'ing last night (Joe Panik was DH tonight). Danny Jansen was back behind the plate after sitting out last night. Cavan Biggio was in RF tonight with Jonathan Villar at 2B. Could the Blue Jays rebound from last night's blow-out loss? Here is tonight's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Yankees took the lead in the bottom of the 1st on a lead-off solo blast to right by DJ LeMahieu
• The Yankees added a pair of runs in the bottom of the 3rd as Kyle Higashioka hammered a 2-run bomb to dead center; also scoring Tyler Wade
• The Yankees added a run in the bottom of the 4th as Clint Frazier whacked a solo blast to left-center 
• Four batters later, LeMahieu smashed a 2-run bomb to right; also scoring Gary Sanchez
• Tanner Roark pitching line: 4IP 6H 6R (all earned) 2BB 4K 91 pitches (52 for strikes)
• The Yankees added a run in the bottom of the 5th as Frazier singled home Aaron Hicks 
• The Blue Jays  got one back in the top of the 6th on a wild pitch by Gerritt Cole that scored Jonathan Villar
• The Yankees added a run in the bottom half of the inning as Higashioka smashed a solo blast to left
• Four batters later, Luke Volt smashed a three-run blast to left; also scoring Le Mahieu and Hicks 
• The Yankees added 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th as Higashioka smacked a 2-run blast to right-center; also scoring Wade
• Gerritt Cole pitching line: 7IP 3H 1R (earned) 2BB 8K 95 pitches (64 for strikes)
• The Blue Jays got one back in the top of the 9th as Joe Panik whacked a solo shot to right
• Final score: Yankees 13 Blue Jays 2

My Take:

• Welp, Tanner Roark can't say he was pulled too early in this one. The long ball hurt him big time today. Roark allowed 4 HR, bringing in 6 runs. The Blue Jays let him throw 91 pitches today. He certainly hasn't lived up to expectations this season.
• The Blue Jays were 0-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded 6 (which would have still left them behind by 5 runs
• Bullpen was about as bad as last night, giving up 7 runs on 8 hits, while walking 4 and striking out 4. Anthony Bass was the only reliever to have a good outing (mind you he threw only one pitch)
• Up next, the Blue Jays try to salvage a game in this series before moving onto Philadelphia. Chase Anderson gets the start against Jays killer Masahiro Tanaka