The New York Yankees (30-19) erased an early three-run deficit Tuesday night, using home runs from Ryan McMahon and Ben Rice to rally past the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4, at Yankee Stadium. After a shaky opening from starter Will Warren, the Yankees responded with five unanswered runs and held off a late Toronto push to secure their second straight win.
Warren labored early but managed to limit the damage through the first three innings before Toronto finally broke through in the fourth. Dalton Varsho and Kazuma Okamoto reached to open the inning before Yohendrick Pinango drove home the game’s first run. Jesús Sánchez and Andrés Giménez followed with RBI singles as the Blue Jays grabbed a 3-0 advantage.
The Yankees answered immediately against Dylan Cease. After Cease cruised through the opening innings with six early strikeouts, New York loaded the bases in the fourth before McMahon ripped a game-tying three-run homer to left-center.
An inning later, Rice delivered the decisive blow. The first baseman turned on a 98 mph fastball from Cease and launched a two-run homer into the right-field seats to put New York ahead for good. Rice’s 16th homer of the season pulled him even with Aaron Judge for the team lead.
Mets blank Blue Jays to even series The bullpen pieced together the final four innings before Camilo Doval survived a tense ninth. Toronto brought the tying run aboard and cut the deficit to one, but Doval stranded the bases loaded by inducing a game-ending groundout from Okamoto.
The series continues Wednesday night in the Bronx with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Right-hander Cam Schlittler (6-1, 1.35 ERA) is set to start for New York against Toronto’s Trey Yesavage (1-1, 1.40 ERA).
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to kyle@fingerlakes1.com.