Toronto Blue Jays pitchers played it safe once again with New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge on Tuesday at Rogers Centre.
Judge inherited four walks and scored twice in a 5-2 Yankees win. New York secures the title in the East Division of the American League thanks to this gain.
“We knew it was coming, but this is just the first step,” Yankees slugger Aaron Judge said.
“I’m going to take four walks in exchange for a win every day,” he also mentioned.
Judge is still stuck at 60 home runs, one shy of the prestigious American League record that Roger Maris has held since 1961. He has eight games left to reach Maris and pass him.
The Yankees celebrated their 20th division championship, tied for second with the Dodgers behind Atlanta’s 21. New York (95-59) earned a first-round bye and home-court advantage in the Division Series.
The Yankees offense came alive in the third inning. Catcher Kyle Higashioka, who also hit three hits, sparked his team’s two runs in the third with a single. He reached second base after Judge had one of his walks.
Gleyber Torres drove in three runs for the Yankees.
Anthony Rizzo’s single on the right allowed Higashioka to score. Judge called after a hit from Torres to center field.
Judge scored again in the fifth after a walk, followed by singles from Rizzo and Torres.
The Yankees scored two more runs in the next inning on back-to-back doubles from Higashioka and Aaron Hicks and a single from Torres.
In the loss, George Springer scored his 20th homer of the season in the first inning at the expense of starter Jameson Taillon.
Taillon rebounded from Springer’s at-bat and struck out 16 of the next 17 batters. Only Whit Merrifield reached the bases on a hit during that streak. The Jays came back to the charge in the sixth thanks to singles from Springer and Bo Bichette.
Springer crossed home plate on the next slap, one from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The Dominican star tried to get the second goal, but, like Bichette before him, was taken out.
Taillon (14-5), who pitched 7.1 innings, gave up two runs on five hits. He has a career record of 4-0 in Toronto.
Blue Jays starter Jose Berrios (11-7) saw his night’s work come to an end after five and a third innings. He allowed nine hits, five runs and two walks. He did, however, strike out seven batters.
Despite the loss, Toronto (87-68) remains at the top of the draft teams.
