Following a 90-minute rain delay, the Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0 to split the four-game series.
Here are five things to know from Thursday’s game …
1. Making his second start of the season, Luis Severino looked extremely sharp. After throwing 65 pitches in his first start of the season, Severino threw 83 pitches on Thursday night before being pulled from the game after five dominant innings.
The right-hander kept the potent Blue Jays lineup at bay, allowing just two hits while striking out six with two walks.
In his two starts this season, Severino has now pitched to a 2.25 ERA over 8.0 innings, striking out 11 with just two walks.
2. Coming off his incredible three-homer night on Wednesday, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. couldn’t keep it going on Thursday. The Jays phenom went down on strikes in each of his three at-bats against Severino, the first time he’s ever struck out three times in the same game against the same pitcher.
Guerrero also struck out against Clay Holmes in the eighth, finishing his night 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.
3. The bottom of the Yankees order produced the game’s first run in the bottom of the third. After Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled and moved to second on a Kevin Gausman balk, Jose Trevino dunked a single into left that bounced away from Lourdes Gurriel Jr., bringing Kiner-Falefa home to make it a 1-0 game.
In the fifth, those two were once again in the middle of the action. After Kiner-Falefa doubled, Trevino had another bloop single to left, and Kiner-Falefa sped home to score the game’s second run.
Kiner-Falefa had his best game as a Yankee, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Kiner-Falefa and Trevino had five of the Yankees’ eight hits as a team.
4. Aaron Boone made all the right calls when it came to managing the bullpen following Severino’s outing. Lucas Luetge (1.0 IP), Miguel Castro (0.2 IP), Holmes (0.2 IP) and Chad Green (0.2 IP) all had scoreless outings to get the game to Aroldis Chapman in the ninth (more on that below).
The Yankees added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. After Aaron Judge doubled into the left-center gap, he’d eventually come around to score on a Giancarlo Stanton RBI groundout to short.
5. The ninth inning was a nightmare for Chapman. He walked the bases loaded, mixing in a wild pitch, to load the bases for the Jays with nobody out. He threw 16 pitches, only four of which were strikes. Boone was forced to pull the lefty from the game, turning to Michael King with the bases loaded and no outs.
King struck out George Springer on three pitches for the first out, and Bo Bichette then hit a looping liner to second base that was caught by DJ LeMahieu, who made the throw to first to double off Matt Chapman and end the game, giving King a miraculous first major league save.
Highlights
What’s next
The Yankees start a three-game series with the Orioles in Baltimore on Friday night, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m.
Jordan Montgomery will make the start against righty Jordan Lyles.