The New York Yankees released some of their pressure for at least a night. The Toronto Blue Jays added more of it to their beleaguered bullpen.
fter a day off, the New York Yankees hoped the opener of a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays would serve as a sort of restart for a very uneven season.
In a 5-2 hole through five innings, the Yankees battled back for a 6-5 win Tuesday in Sahlen Field as a crowd of 7,145 full of mostly Yankee fans roared its approval.
The Bronx Bombers' first game in front of Buffalo fans since 1963 ended with a 1-2-3 ninth by closer Aroldis Chapman, who retired Randal Grichuk on a simple groundball to first base with the fans on their feet rooting for a game-ending strikeout.
The Yankees scratched out a run in the sixth, tied the game with a two-run seventh that featured Brett Gardner's leadoff home run to right and won it in the eighth on pinch-hitter Clint Frazier's RBI double down the left-field line off top Toronto reliever Jordan Romano.
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"Really good, up and down the lineup contributions," said manager Aaron Boone. "A lot of really good things tonight, coming from behind and having some big, important at-bats."
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Said Frazier of the game-winning hit: "I was really just trying to be disciplined and hit a fastball. ... I was a little bit early on that fastball and I was glad to keep it inside the base."
Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery walked the game's first three batters but emerged only down, 1-0, on a Teoscar Hernandez sacrifice fly. He ended up pushing through 5 1/3 innings, which Boone called "huge".
"I had to buckle down," Montgomery said. "Just trying to minimize damage as best I could."
The Yankees got home runs from Gary Sanchez and Chris Gittens prior to Gardner's shot. It was the first hit of Gittens' career after an 0-for-14 start. The solo shot with two out in the fourth landed on the grass berm in left-center field and was hauled in by a fan outside the park. The Yankees got the ball back.
Yankees first baseman Chris Gittens gets his first career hit on a fourth-inning home run against the Blue Jays.
"I touched first base and my mind went blank right there," Gittens said. "'Boonie' came over, gave me a high-five and I was like, 'OK, I'm good right now.' "
"I think he's ecstatic his first one landed on a highway in Buffalo, New York," Frazier joked. "How else would you draw that one up?"
There wasn't much joking from Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo, who is tiring of seeing bullpen failures. It's the third time in five games the Toronto relief corps has suffered a loss in the seventh inning or later.
"It’s been the whole (bleeping) month. These are who we’ve got and we’re going to trust them," Montoyo said. "Of course it's frustrating. I'm not going to lie to you on that one."
Scorebook jottings
The teams combined to use 11 pitchers in the 3-hour, 31-minute affair. Toronto reliever C.J. Edwards left after two batters in the seventh with what the team termed "left side abdominal discomfort." Montoyo said he's headed for the MRI tube on Wednesday. ... Yankees slugger Aaron Judge went 0 for 5 with three strikeouts. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was 1 for 4 with a walk for the Blue Jays. ... No. 9 hitter Santiago Espinal was 3 for 4 for Toronto.
Springer starts for Herd
Blue Jays outfielder and former World Series MVP George Springer, who has played only four games this season due to oblique and quad issues, went 0 for 4 in his first rehab start with the Buffalo Bisons in Tuesday night's 14-1 win at Rochester.
Buffalo tied its modern-era franchise record by belting seven home runs. Second baseman Richard Urena and shortstop Kevin Smith hit two apiece.
