Carlos Rodon ineffective, Yankees offense comes up short in 5-4 loss to Blue Jays
Yusei Kikuchi shut down the Yankees lineup again, but a spirited comeback fell short as New York lost 5-4 to the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
The Yankees (12-6) have now lost three games in a row and lost their first series of the season.
Here are the takeaways...
-The last time Kikuchi pitched against the Yankees, he handed New York a home-opening loss. He pitched 5.1 shutout innings in that game and it was more of the same on Tuesday. The veteran left-hander had more of the same results as he gave up one run over six innings (94 pitches/62 strikes). He gave up four hits and walked once while striking out nine batters.
-On the other side, Carlos Rodon struggled. In the third, he allowed the Jays to get the bases loaded with no one out, but a strikeout of Bo Bichette and a couple of flyouts later, and the damage was limited to just one run. However, the lefty did not have many quick innings and saw his pitch count rise to 100 after just four innings.
While it could have been worse, Rodon did not have a good start. He pitched four innings (101 pitches/62 strikes) and gave up three runs on five hits and four walks. He did strike out five batters.
-Gleyber Torres entered Tuesday's game with 10 hits in his career against Kikuchi, the most of any pitcher he's faced. However, he finished 0-for-1 with two walks and a run scored. He also had some iffy defensive plays in the sixth inning.
The first came with no outs and a man on second, and the Yanks down 3-1. The ball was hit in front of him and he threw an accurate throw to Oswaldo Cabrera, but the third baseman missed the tag. The other was on Torres, who rushed the tag on a base runner trying to steal second and let the ball slip out of his glove into the outfield, allowing a run to score. Toronto would score another run in that inning to go up 5-1.
-The Yankees lineup just could not get going. Volpe had a tough night at the plate. The second-year shortstop went 0-for-4 but struck out four times, the second time in his career he's done that.
Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo went a combined 0-for-8 with two strikeouts.
Three of the Yankees' runs came from Jose Trevino, who singled home a run and grounded out, allowing a runner to score from third. He grounded out again in the ninth with men on second and third with one out. Cabrera hit a sacrifice fly to pick up the Yankees' third run. He finished 1-for-3 and was up as the winning run but grounded out softly.
-The Yankees bullpen was largely good. Luke Weaver gave up two runs -- although they came after the two iffy defensive plays in the sixth -- over 1.1 innings. Nick Burdi and Victor Gonzalez picked up the final 2.2 innings to give the Yankees offense a chance.
Game MVP: Yusei Kikuchi
The wry southpaw just has the Yankees' number this year. In two starts against New York, the 32-year-old has now pitched 13.1 innings of one-run ball while striking out 16 batters.
Highlights
What's next...
The Yankees look to avoid a sweep against the Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Marcus Stroman (1-1, 2.12 ERA) will take the mound against Kevin Gausman (0-2, 11.57 ERA).