Canada Day Festivities Delay Game 2 In Toronto Blue Jays-New York Yankees Series

Canada Day is a big holiday in Canada. Canadians would have liked to celebrate a Blue Jays victory. The Yankees lost this game 12-5. The Blue Jays drew ever closer in the American League East standings. Coming into this game on Canada Day, the Yankees lead the third-place Blue Jays by two games. This loss was a little surprising. Max Fried had been 9-1 following Yankees losses. Do you think the Yankees will win tomorrow?

Lineups on Canada Day 

The Blue Jays had Ernie Clement as the third baseman, batting leadoff. George Springer was the right fielder, batting second.  Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was the first baseman, batting third. Alejandro Kirk was the designated hitter, batting fourth. Davis Schneider was the left fielder and batted fifth. Nathan Lukes came in to play left field in the eighth inning. Myles Straw was the center fielder and batted sixth. Andrés Giménez was the second baseman and batted seventh.

Tyler Heineman was the catcher and batted eighth. Leo Jiménez was the shortstop and batted ninth. He was just called up to the Majors today. Addison Barger pinch-hit for him in the seventh inning and stayed in to play third base.

For the Yankees, Paul Goldschmidt batted first and was the first baseman. Cody Bellinger was the center fielder and batted second. Aaron Judge was the right fielder who batted third. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was the third baseman and batted fourth. Giancarlo Stanton was the designated hitter, batting fifth. Jasson Dominguez was the left fielder and batted sixth. Anthony Volpe was the shortstop and batted seventh. JC Escarra was the catcher and batted eighth. DJ LeMahieu was the second baseman and batted ninth.

Game Reaction

The two runs the Yankees scored in the first inning were probably all the runs Fried would need. He has given up three runs just once this season. Not so this game. This game was billed as a pitcher’s duel on Canada Day with Fried pitching for the Yankees and the ace of the Blue Jays staff, Kevin Gausman. It was a game of ace against ace. Gausman held up his end of the bargain. There was shoddy defense in this game, too. It was fair to wonder what was going on. The Yankees, for their part, had a costly catcher’s interference that led to the Springer grand slam.

News and Notes 

The Blue Jays were wearing red uniforms for Canada Day. The start of the game was delayed for about 30 minutes because of festivities. Fried has seven pick-offs this year and 35 for his career. Baserunners beware! Plus, he was 9-1 this season following a Yankee loss. His earned run average in those games is 0.93. The Yankees lost yesterday, but Fried gave up a season-high four runs in this game.

All-Star voting is underway with less than 24 hours remaining. Judge has already been named to the American League team. Trent Grisham, who was hurt last night, seems like he will avoid the IL. Nevertheless, the Yankees called up Bryan De La Cruz, not top prospect Spencer Jones.

De La Cruz is on the Yankees taxi squad, so in the game, Oswald Peraza is the emergency outfielder. Volpe has 11 errors so far this season. That total leads the American League. Volpe won a Gold Glove last year. When one adds in his many baserunning blunders, he is hurting the Yankees this season.

Scoring Summary

In the first inning, Dominguez singled and both Goldschmidt and Judge scored, and the Yankees jumped out to an early first-inning lead of 2-0. In the fourth inning, Springer hit a solo home run. That cut the Yankees’ lead to 2-1. Then Gimenez hit a three-run home run, which scored both Schneider and Straw. Toronto took an improbable 4-2 lead.

In the seventh inning, Stanton hit a ground ball that the Toronto third baseman did not field the ball. He committed an error, and Bellinger scored. That cut the Toronto lead to 4-3. The defensive miscues committed by Toronto on Canada Day continued. Dominguez hit a ground ball to the Toronto first baseman, who misplayed it. Chisholm Jr. scored, and the game was tied at 4. Fried was off the hook.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Clement singled and Gimenez scored. Then Springer hit a grand slam, and Heineman, Barger, and Clement all scored. It was 9-4, Blue Jays. In the eighth inning, Clement walked with the bases loaded, and Lukes scored. Then Springer singled, and that scored two runs. Both Gimenez and Barger scored. It was 12-4 Blue Jays.

In the ninth inning, Dominguez grounded out, and Judge scored. That made it 12-5, Toronto. That was the final score on Canada Day. The Yankees should have won this game.

Final Thoughts

The Yankees and the Blue Jays play two more games in Canada during this rare four-game series. Then the Yankees reprise their Subway Series with the New York Mets.