Alek Manoah made an impressive major league debut Thursday when he allowed just two hits in six innings as the Toronto Blue Jays recorded a 2-0 victory over the New York Yankees in the first game of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium.
Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette hit back-to-back homers off Domingo German (4-3) with two outs in the third but the story was Manoah, the first pitcher from the 2019 draft to reach the majors.
Manoah (1-0) struck out seven and walked two. The 23-year-old right-hander’s fastball topped out at 97.3 mph and he got 13 swings and misses.
The 11th overall pick out of West Virginia had his own cheering section along the third base side in the second deck and his fans were hanging on each of his 88 pitches. Among his supporters was his mother, whom television cameras caught crying while Manoah threw his first pitches.
Manoah started the outing by walking DJ LeMahieu but got strikeouts of Rougned Odor and Aaron Judge in the first. He ended the third by whiffing LeMahieu and Odor.
Manoah allowed both hits to Miguel Andujar, who singled in the second and fifth. After allowing Andujar’s second hit, he fanned Brett Gardner and Kyle Higashioka to end the fifth.
Manoah issued a one-out walk to Odor in the sixth but got Judge on a flyout and Gleyber Torres on a groundout to end the frame.
Jordan Romano tossed a perfect seventh for his second save.
The Blue Jays clinched their third series victory in as many tries over the Yankees this season.
Toronto gave Manoah a lead when Semien lined a 2-1 fastball into the left field seats for his 13th homer. Three pitches later Bichette launched a 1-1 changeup well over the left field seats for his 10th homer.
German allowed two runs on three hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out five, walked two and lost for the first time in seven starts since returning from the alternate site on April 22.
New York, which lost its second straight following a six-game winning streak, placed right-hander Corey Kluber (right shoulder) and first baseman Luke Voit (oblique) on the injured list before the game.
-Field Level Media