Jays go with a whimper as Yankees clinch AL East

Yankees 5 at Blue Jays 2

George Springer got the Jays started with a literal bang on the second pitch by Jameson Taillon.

Unfortunately, that ended up but a tantalizing tease as the highwater of the evening. The next 17 batters managed just one single off Taillon as the Yankees took control of the game.

They were roused from their slumber when Springer came up for the third time in the 6th, lining a single. Bo Bichette smashed the next pitch to the right-centre gap for what should have been a double, but it was not to be.

Bichette was out on the ultimate ticky-tacky call, after sliding in safely, he came to a stop over the bag, but not actually touching it with his foot and knee on either side. That loomed even larger it was immediately followed by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hooking the very next pitch hard down the left field line:

Yeah, it was that kind of night. Especially since it allowed the Yankees to formally clinch the AL East (small silver lining: the AAA Yankees were eliminated with their loss to the AAA Jays tonight).

Buck then spent the next half inning excoriating the lack of hustle as emblematic of a broader problem of mental mistakes—including rightfully pointing out that they were lucky the same thing didn’t happen when Teoscar Hernandez stood around admiring his not-grand slam, and would have been out if the cutoff throw went to second instead of home in vain. And there’s certainly some truth to it, but I could have done without the “in my day” and “this is why they’re behind various other teams (specifically the Rays)” narrative.

So they did get a run, but not nearly enough for three hard hit balls, and the rally was snuffed out. They didn’t really do anything the rest of the game, a brief rally in the 8th as Taillon ran out of gas against the bottom of the order ended by a double play on the first pitch Lou Trivino threw to Springer.

On the other side, Berrios was actually decent though he was charged with 5 runs on 9 hits in 5.1 innings, with 2 walks against 7 strikeouts. Ultimately the Yankees just kepy chipping away and though he didn’t give up any truly big innings, the game just steadily slipped away. Though it wasn’t decisive, he also didn’t get any help behind him either.

The Yankees took the lead in the 3rd with two runs, stringing together three singles with a walk mixed in. The added another in the 5th as Berrios walked Aaron Judge leading off (the first of four), and then two more singles cashed a run. Then Bichette had a throw get away from him to exacerbate the situation, though Berrios got out of with no further damage.

The last two crossed in the 6th as Berrios yielded back-toback doubles before exiting, one of the inherited runners scoring as Zach Pop allowed a single. Otherwise, the bullpen was solid with Anthony Bass the standout at the end of the game.

Jays of the Day: Springer actually ends up negative (-.016) due to the double play, but he deserved much better seeing as that was a well struck ball and he was responsible for/catalyzed the only two runs. So he gets one. Otherwise, Raimel Tapia was the only one not to end up with a negative number. Again, it was that kind of night.

Suckage: Berrios (-.218) is the only one with the number, but basically the entire rest of the lineup. I’ll single out Bichette (-.083) who also threw the ball away that lead to an important tack on run and potential big inning though it didn’t ultimately prove decisive.

Tomorrow, the Jays will look to take the series with Gerrit Cole going for the Yankees against /check notes/ Mitch White...so, yeah. 7:07 EDT for those who want to see how that goes.