The Toronto Blue Jays complete a nine-game stretch against opponents expected to challenge for the American League title with a three-game series in the Bronx against the New York Yankees this weekend.
It’s the first chance this season for the Blue Jays to measure themselves up against a Yankees team that finished seven games ahead of runner-up Toronto in the American League East last year.
Here’s a look at the series.
Probable Pitchers
Friday, 7:05 p.m. ET / 4:05 p.m. PT: Toronto RHP Yusei Kikuchi (2-0, 4.70 ERA) vs. New York RHP Domingo German (1-1, 3.86 ERA), Apple TV+
Saturday, 1:05 p.m. ET / 10:05 a.m. PT: Toronto RHP Alek Manoah (1-1, 6.98 ERA) vs. New York RHP Gerrit Cole (4-0, 0.95 ERA), Sportsnet ONE, SN NOW
Sunday, 1:35 p.m. ET / 10:35 a.m. PT: Toronto RHP Kevin Gausman (1-2, 3.65 ERA) vs. New York RHP Clarke Schmidt (0-1, 8.79 ERA), Sportsnet, SN NOW
All games on Sportsnet 590 The Fan.
Latest on the Blue Jays
The Blue Jays (11-8) are 3-3 during this challenging stretch, coming off a 2-1 series loss in Houston against the reigning World Series-champion Astros after taking two of three against the MLB-leading Tampa Bay Rays in Toronto.
The finale in Houston was a nail-biter, with Toronto cutting the deficit to 2-1 in the eighth and loading the bases with none out before George Springer, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. were all retired.
The Astros then lit up the Toronto bullpen for an 8-1 win.
In the bigger picture, though, there was an important development with starter Jose Berrios. He went seven strong innings for his second solid outing in a row after a rocky 2022 and start to the ’23 season.
Latest on the Yankees
The Yankees (12-7) are in sole possession of second place in the AL East after taking two of three from the Los Angeles Angels.
With five series wins and one tie, the Yankees are the only MLB team not to have lost a series this year.
New York is getting excellent offensive production from Anthony Rizzo, who is fourth in the American League with a .344 batting average, up from .224 last year. He went 3-for-3 with a pair of walks in a 9-3 win over the Angels in the series finale on Thursday.
Then there is Aaron Judge, who has six dingers this year after signing a nine-year, $360-million deal in the off-season following his record-breaking home run season last year.
Judge also showed off his defence against the Angels, robbing Shohei Ohtani of a home run with a leaping grab on Wednesday in the first before homering in the bottom of the inning.
Cole vs. Manoah
This should be fun.
The two aces square off after Manoah called Cole the “worst cheater in baseball history” on Serge Ibaka’s How Hungry Are You? this off-season.
“He used a lot of sticky stuff to make his pitches better and he kinda got called out on it,” Manoah said.
These words came after a tense moment in New York last year when Manoah hit Judge above the elbow with a pitch. Cole wasn’t happy, yelling at Manoah from the dugout.
Manoah wasn’t overly concerned about Cole when asked about the incident afterward.
“I think if Gerrit wants to do something, he can walk past the Audi sign next time,” Manoah said, referring to a logo outside the Yankees dugout.
While this is all good sidebar stuff, the bigger story for the Jays is getting Manoah back on track after a shaky start to the season. Cole has had no such problems as he’s tied for the MLB lead in wins and is fifth in ERA.
Yankee Stadium, of course, is where it all started for Manoah. He made an impressive MLB debut at the Bronx in May 2021 and hasn’t looked back — finishing third in Cy Young voting last year.
Donaldson Banged-Up
Yankees third baseman and former Blue Jays star Josh Donaldson thought he was close to returning from a hamstring injury earlier this week before he felt some discomfort running the bases in a minor-league rehab game.
“I’m bummed out,” Donaldson told New York reporters, via the New York Post. “I felt like it was going to be any day now, but I’m going to take it day by day and hopefully this gets ironed out.”
The 2015 AL MVP with Toronto, Donaldson was off to a 2-for-16 start at the plate this year before being sidelined.
The Yankees are missing other key players to injury — including newly signed lefty starter Carlos Rodon (back), outfielder/DH Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring), outfielder Harrison Bader (oblique) and righty Luis Severino (lat).
East is a Beast
All five teams in the AL East are .500 or better — the Boston Red Sox sit last, at 10-10, while the Rays lead the way, at 16-3.
Every other division has at least two teams with losing records.
The good news for AL East teams is the new schedule sees only 13 games against each of the divisional foes, down from 19 last year. This should help in the wild-card race.
2022 Season Series
The Blue Jays went 8-11 against the Yankees last year.
Up Next
The Blue Jays return home for a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox, starting Monday, followed by three games against Teoscar Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners.