The Yankees led early but allowed four runs to cross in the sixth inning and fell to the Blue Jays, 5-4, on Monday night in Toronto.
Here are the takeaways…
— Carlos Rodón avoided first-inning damage after allowing a two-out double to slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Despite a hit-by-pitch, Rodón kept it a scoreless game through the second inning two with two strikeouts in the frame. The left-hander found himself in another tough spot in the third with two on and no outs, but got Guerrero to flyout and Alejandro Kirk to ground into the forceout.
Rodón continued to keep runs off the board in the fourth inning, striking out Will Wagner to escape the jam with runners on the corners. The lety allowed his first run in the fifth after a wild pitch as Guerrero drove in Ernie Clement from third base on a groundout to make it 2-1. Rodón let up a leadoff double to Davis Schneider in the bottom of the sixth as that ended up being the last batter he faced.
Rodón's final line: two earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks over 96 pitches across 5-plus innings of work.
— Putting a bow on his scorching hot June, Jazz Chisholm Jr. blasted a two-run home run on the first pitch he saw from Max Scherzer in the top of the fourth inning to give the Yanks a 2-0 lead. It's his fourth homer in the past five games. Overall, since returning from injury on June 3, Chisholm is slashing .318/.379/.588 with six home runs, five doubles, and 17 RBI.
— Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer battled through five innings of work and 71 pitches, holding the Yankees' bats to just three hits while striking out seven. New York was 0-for-2 with RISP and left one on base (Anthony Volpe after a double) against Scherzer.
— Trent Grisham exited the game before the bottom of the fifth inning as Cody Bellinger moved to CF and Jasson Domínguez entered in LF. It was later announced that Grisham left with left hamstring tightness.
— Mark Leiter Jr. replaced Rodón with a runner on second and immediately found himself in a bigger jam when Myles Straw singled and advanced to second on Volpe's throwing error. Nathan Lukes then made it a one-run game, and after a strikeout and wild pitch, Leiter let up a game-tying single to Clement. Jonathan Loáisiga came in for relief but allowed a two-run single to Guerrero, giving the Blue Jays a 5-3 lead.
— Aaron Judge was intentionally walked by LHP Brendon Little with a runner on first base and one out in the top of the sixth inning, and the move worked against Chisholm, but not Giancarlo Stanton. The slugger drove in Domínguez to make it a 3-1 game. Judge was intentionally walked for a second time in the top of the eighth with no outs after Bellinger homered (No. 12) to cut the Toronto lead to 5-4. Domínguez singled in the ninth to give NY a chance, but Bellinger flied out to end the game.
Game MVP: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Vladdy finished 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and three RBI to give him 15 RBI on the month and 44 RBI so far this year.
Highlights
Jazz Chisholm Jr. opens the scoring in Toronto with a 2-run homer! pic.twitter.com/a2MxjYTqLq
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) July 1, 2025
An RBI single for Giancarlo Stanton! pic.twitter.com/sivEZVeh18
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) July 1, 2025
Cody Bellinger homers to right and cuts the deficit to 1 pic.twitter.com/Q5Nwjh64cP
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) July 1, 2025
What's next
The Yankees and Blue Jays continue their four-game series in Toronto on Tuesday at 3:07 p.m.
Max Fried (10-2, 1.92 ERA) starts for the Yanks, opposed by Kevin Gausman (6-6, 4.21 ERA) for the Blue Jays.
Read the full article here