The New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays both arrive at Friday night’s series opener looking for the same thing: a spark.
New York heads north after getting shut out 1-0 by the Seattle Mariners on Thursday, just as Toronto was blanked 7-0 at home by the Boston Red Sox while trying to finish off a four-game sweep. So the three-game set opens with both lineups trying to shake off a rough night and rediscover some rhythm.
For the Yankees, the offensive slide has been a familiar storyline since Aaron Judge went down with a fractured rib on June 1. The pitching staff has kept them in the hunt, and Aaron Boone sounded like a manager trying to keep the bigger picture in view even as the bats stay quiet.
"I saw a graphic where we were 18-10 going into the day in the last 28, and it's been the playoffs every day, it feels like," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "I got people on the street saying, ‘Hey, it will turn around,' and I'm like, ‘We're going all right.'"
The numbers explain why the frustration lingers. Since the All-Star break, the Yankees rank 28th in runs and last in the majors with a .207 batting average. Their 2.86 ERA in that same span is second-best in baseball, which has helped them hold second place in the American League East behind the Tampa Bay Rays.
"We're doing a lot of good things," Boone said. "We're obviously wanting to get the offense jump-started, and we're seeing little signs, little crumbs of that, hopefully. But now it's kind of on to Toronto."
Toronto’s offense hasn’t exactly been roaring either. The Blue Jays are 27th in runs since the break and tied for 19th with a .234 batting average, though their pitching has kept them afloat with a 3.59 ERA that ranks tied for eighth.
The Blue Jays did take three of four from Boston, a series that gave them a boost in the chase for an American League wild-card spot. Toronto is two games out of the league’s third and final wild-card position, and even with Thursday’s loss, the mood in the clubhouse wasn’t all doom and gloom.
"It's frustrating because we had some opportunities (on Thursday)," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said, "Looking at it in totality, we're playing really well right now. You can see that guys are tired, but they're grinding and they're leaving it out there.
Today just wasn't our day, but I like the way we're playing. When you're taking three out of four from a division opponent, it's a good thing."
Ernie Clement echoed that sentiment after the loss.
"That's a great series win against a really good team. We will use that as momentum going into this next one."
Toronto’s week doesn’t get any softer now. Boston left-hander Payton Tolle limited the Blue Jays to two hits on Thursday, and the Yankees are bringing Gerrit Cole to the mound Friday before lining up Cam Schlittler and Ryan Weathers for the rest of the weekend.
Cole enters at 6-5 with a 3.35 ERA, and he has owned this matchup over the years. In 18 career starts against Toronto, he is 9-2 with a 2.75 ERA. He’s also rolling right now, having won his last three starts with a 1.45 ERA.
The Blue Jays are expected to counter with right-hander Shane Bieber, who is 3-2 with a 5.48 ERA. Against the Yankees, Bieber is 2-1 with a 4.11 ERA in five career starts.
Schneider knows what’s coming.
"You're going to run into good pitching," Schneider said. "We're going to face three more good ones this weekend. Baseball's different every single day."
Toronto starter Max Scherzer allowed one run in five innings on Thursday, and he reached 3,000 innings pitched after the first inning, becoming the second active pitcher behind Justin Verlander and the 139th pitcher in major league history to hit the mark.
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