TORONTO — Advantage, Blue Jays, but the Yankees want to make sure that we don’t see another lopsided affair like Game 1 of their American League Division Series.
“I feel like we’ve been here for a little bit, and things haven’t gone our way,” manager John Schneider said. “Every season there’s a different feel and a different vibe. I’ve said it before, there’s a different feel with this team. Again, it’s one game. There’s a lot of series ahead of us, but it’s nice. I feel a lot of fulfillment for the guys in there that have grinded and put in a lot of work.”
The Yankees had their chances, most notably with the bases loaded and AL MVP candidate Aaron Judge at the dish in the sixth, but the game spiraled away from them after not being able to break open that inning.
“I don’t think any loss is a good loss, but at the end of the day, there’s been adversity in here before in this locker room,” Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger said. “All the guys in here, we all believe in each other. Now, we’ve got to come out tomorrow, play our best game and capitalize.”
The Yanks have now dropped seven of eight games to the Blue Jays this season at Rogers Centre, which swung the season series and the eventual tiebreaker in the AL East. Now, they’ll need to bounce back in a hurry ahead of Game 2 to even up the series before heading back to New York.
“They’re a tough team, regardless of the ballpark,” Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe said. “We’ve just got to do our best and show up and play, and I think we’ll be fine. We’ve got an opportunity [Sunday] to go back home with a tied series.”
In Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, teams that win Game 1 at home have advanced 40 of 54 times (74.1%), so the Yanks are already facing an uphill climb in their quest to return to the World Series.
When is the game and how can I watch it?
First pitch is scheduled for 4:08 p.m. ET on Sunday at Rogers Centre and can be seen in the United States on FS1.
Blue Jays fans in Canada can tune in via Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ for the broadcast with Buck Martinez, Dan Shulman and Hazel Mae, or listen to the radio call with Ben Shulman and Chris Leroux on Sportsnet 590 The FAN.
All series are available in the US on MLB.TV with authentication to a participating Pay TV provider. Games also are available live internationally, although not in Canada.
TVA Sports will be covering the entire AL Postseason and the World Series in French and Broadcaster RDS will cover the entire NL Postseason in French.
Fried permitted three walks to go with six strikeouts, and said he still had something left in the tank when manager Aaron Boone called to the bullpen with the lefty at 102 pitches.
Fried has faced Toronto four times this season, going 2-1 with a 4.07 ERA, including a Sept. 7 win in their last meeting (7 IP, 3 ER). Only one of those starts came in Toronto, a July 23 loss (5 1/3 IP, 6 R, 4 ER).
Blue Jays: Rookie sensation Trey Yesavage (1-0, 3.21 ERA) made just three starts in September, but he showed the Blue Jays enough to earn the Game 2 start. Yesavage opened the season in Single-A and climbed every single rung of the ladder on his way to the big leagues, dominating hitters at every level. Now, the 22-year-old gets the biggest challenge of his life in facing the Yankees.
Yesavage has struck out 16 batters in 14 innings in the big leagues, and in the Minors, his strikeout rate was an eye-popping 14.7 K/9. Yesavage sets hitters up with a heavy fastball that lives in the 94-96 mph range, but his splitter is the star of the show, barreling down from a sky-high release point to create constant whiffs. There’s some real deception between Yesavage’s fastball and splitter, making it important that the Yankees have never seen the young righty.
Walks can be an issue for Yesavage, but he’s earned this assignment with a remarkable season. The bullpen will be well-stocked behind him, but the Blue Jays are comfortable with letting Yesavage roll if it’s working.
What are the starting lineups?
Yankees: Look for the Yanks to run back their Game 1 lineup, seeking better results. One interesting move was elevating Ryan McMahon to the No. 7 spot, which Boone said was not related to Gausman; more about late-inning matchups against Toronto’s bullpen.
Blue Jays: Manager John Schneider opted to save Anthony Santander for a potential late-game spot since it’s easy to slide in Davis Schneider against any lefty. This leaves the Blue Jays with Nathan Lukes on the bench as a pinch-hit option who makes a ton of contact against righties later in the game.
How will the bullpens line up after the starter?
Yankees: Boone went to the bullpen aggressively in Game 1, calling upon Tim Hill (21 pitches), Camilo Doval (20 pitches), Luke Weaver (10 pitches), Fernando Cruz (16 pitches) and Paul Blackburn (36 pitches). They might steer away from Weaver, who expressed issues with pitch-tipping, and certainly Blackburn. Doval is likely down, too, but for the remainder of this series, look for him to assume a seventh-inning role. David Bednar got two much-needed days off after pitching in all three games of the Red Sox series.
Blue Jays: Louis Varland looked fantastic coming in behind Gausman in Game 1 and Toronto also turned to Seranthony Dominguez, Brendon Little and Jeff Hoffman, all key bullpen pieces. This is the beauty of the bye through the Wild Card Series, though, as all of these pitchers got extra rest recently and should be available tomorrow. The Blue Jays are carrying four lefties in their ‘pen for the ALDS, too, so they’ll be prepared to mix and match even more in Game 2 if the situations call for it.
Any injuries of note?
Yankees: Bellinger has a bruised left heel that he re-aggravated in the final game against Boston. It may impact his running, especially when decelerating, but he looked serviceable in Game 1. The state of Judge’s right elbow was a topic throughout the Wild Card Series, as Boston looked for opportunities to test Judge’s throwing. He’s clearly compromised after a July flexor strain, though it doesn’t seem to have impacted his offense.
Blue Jays: Bo Bichette is still rehabbing a left knee sprain and hasn’t started to run yet, so we won’t be seeing him until a potential AL Championship Series at the earliest. You can feel the absence of Bichette in this lineup, and even though the Blue Jays have done well with their “next man up” approach, he was a crucial bat behind Vladdy in the cleanup spot. The other injury impacting the position player side is to Ty France, who didn’t get enough live at-bats in after rehabbing from an oblique injury prior to the ALDS, limiting Toronto’s bench bat options.
Who is hot and who is not?
Yankees: Judge (6-for-15, 2B) and Volpe (5-for-15, HR) have been swinging the most consistent bats thus far in the postseason. Ben Rice carried over a hot streak from the regular season, but he went hitless in Game 1 of the ALDS. Giancarlo Stanton has been taking early BP to recapture his October magic from a year ago; he’s 1-for-15 this postseason.
Blue Jays: Is anyone in baseball hotter than Kirk right now? With two homers in the ALDS Game 1 win, Kirk has now homered five times in his past three games and seems to thrive in these high-pressure situations. Guerrero is suddenly a hitter to fear again, too, fresh off a home run to open the scoring on Saturday in a 3-for-4 performance, while sporting some excellent defense. Daulton Varsho quietly had a nice game, too, with a single, double and a walk. Given his power potential, Varsho feels like someone who could star at some point in a postseason run for this team. As a lineup, the Blue Jays struck out just twice in Game 1 to go with two walks, so they’re putting plenty of balls in play.
Anything else fans might want to know?
Blue Jays: Yesavage will be just the third pitcher to make a postseason start within his first four MLB appearances, including playoffs, joining Shane Baz (2021 ALDS G2) and Matt Moore (2011 ALDS G1), both with the Rays.
Yankees: The Yanks went 44-37 (.543) on the road during the regular season, second-best mark in the Majors only to the Brewers (45-36). However, only the Phillies (55-26) were better at home than the Blue Jays (54-27) — and the Yanks have lost seven of eight in Toronto this year.
