Blue Jays do all the little things in win over Yankees to cap record home streak

TORONTO — An astute observation from sidelined reliever Yimi García about the way his Toronto Blue Jays are playing also proved particularly prescient during the opener of another important three-game series versus the New York Yankees.

“Every time you see a team play the way we are, everybody feels good,” said García. “How we are doing the little things is the most impressive thing. When everybody does the little things, it can make you really good.”

The Blue Jays once again did the little things Monday, in contrast to the Yankees, and it made them really good in a 4-1 victory that extended their home win streak to a club record 11 games.

Kevin Gausman set the tone and did the heavy lifting with seven dominant innings of one-run ball and Bo Bichette’s two-run double in the fifth inning erased a Giancarlo Stanton solo shot in the fourth that was Gausman’s only real mistake.

But it was the Blue Jays’ ability to exploit opportunity in the margins — a big reason why their record is six games better than their expected win-loss based on run differential, while the Yankees are six games worse — that helped them carry the day.

At 59-41, they’re now four games clear of the Yankees (55-45) atop the American League East.

“You put pressure on the defence,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider, “usually good things happen.”

The bottom of the fifth was a product of precisely that.

After George Springer opened the inning with a walk, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. laced a 113.9 m.p.h. grounder toward the hole between short and third, too hard for a diving Oswaldo Peraza to knock down. Frustrated, Peraza slammed his hand on the dirt in frustration.

That opened the door for Bichette’s big swing, with Guerrero managing to score from first, aided by an alert send by third-base coach Carlos Febles, who capitalized on left-fielder Jasson Dominguez’s 93-foot trek to fetch the ball in the left-field corner and overthrow of the cut-off man.

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After Alejandro Kirk, who doubled twice, flew out to centre, Davis Schneider then battled Carlos Rodón for 14 pitches before popping out to short, with even the Yankees lefty tipping his cap afterwards.

Myles Straw then booted up the line on a grounder to third, leading Cabrera to yank his throw to first, which allowed Bichette to score on the error.

Then, Straw kept running hard from second on Leo Jiménez’s chopper to short, scoring when first baseman Paul Goldschmidt couldn’t pick Anthony Volpe’s relay.

“I just busted it home, you never know what happens,” said Straw. “I peaked as I was rounding third and I saw Goldschmidt had the ball pop up and I was like, let's go, this is perfect, this is exactly why you run. It all worked out for us.”

Very much so, turning what should have been a two-run rally into a decisive four-spot.

"It was an incredible at-bat (by Davis Schneider), he probably set up those next two runs," said Bichette. “I don't know if it was tiring for the infielders or whatnot, but I think he just kind of set a tone for that inning and he definitely had a big part in how the rest of that inning went.”

John Schneider likened the impact of Davis Schneider’s at-bat to “time of possession in football — when you're standing out there for a while, it can get a little stagnant. That's a fun baseball moment, that at-bat from Schneider and I don't want to say it contributed to the physical errors, but when you're out there for a while, that can happen. You've got to take advantage of it against good pitchers.”

Time and again over the past 2½ months, the Blue Jays have done that, be it taking an extra base, grinding out a starter, or putting the ball in play rather than striking out.

“When everyone's doing it, it becomes the standard,” said John Schneider. “You always preach that. You have to have the right people. It's effort and anticipation and we're doing that.”

Other moments, of course, mattered Monday too.

Gausman used an intentional walk of Aaron Judge in the third to help strand a two-out Trent Grisham double, striking out Jazz Chisholm Jr. to end that threat. And Gausman then stranded Peraza at third in the fifth by battling Judge for nine pitches, inducing a foul pop-up to the plate.

In the eighth, Brendon Little left two on and one out, but Yariel Rodríguez got Stanton on a 107.6 m.p.h. liner to centre that Straw cleverly chased down before Jasson Domínguez grounded weakly to second. That left Jeff Hoffman, pitching for the third time in four days, plenty of margin for error in a ninth inning in which he struck out the side.

Another win over the Yankees — after a four-game sweep before the all-star break wrested the division lead from them — also put the Blue Jays up 6-2 in the season series and another victory will secure them the tiebreaker.

Before the game, New York manager Aaron Boone said his team “walks in here with a lot of confidence and expecting good things to happen,” but instead found itself struggling against a team it clobbered during a doubleheader sweep April 27 but hasn’t managed to solve since.

“They have a couple of stars having really good years, but I think it's the emergence of their supporting cast this year that's been really good and really playing at a high level for the better part of over a month now,” Boone said of what makes the Blue Jays so challenging. “And complementary parts, too. They can play the platoon game with you and get guys in good matchups and the roster is really complementary.”

The Blue Jays have gotten better at fitting those complementary pieces together as the season has progressed and their pillar players have made gains along the way.

During the Yankees’ doubleheader sweep back in April, Gausman gave up six runs in 2.2 innings and couldn’t escape a 53-pitch third in an 11-2 loss. During a 12-5 win on Canada Day, Gausman held New York to two runs in five innings but allowed six hits and four walks while striking out only three.

On Monday, Gausman had one of his most dominant outings of the season, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out eight.

“We know it's going to be a dogfight every time we play these guys,” Gausman said when asked about the difference from April to now. “Their lineup is really tough. They have guys who can change the game with one swing, and with that, you really have to pitch smart and be on top of your game. This is the first time I faced them this year where my command was good. That's why I felt like I was able to pitch the way I wanted to, whereas the last couple of games against them, I had five walks in New York and four walks here last time. It definitely sets things up when I'm able to come out and attack the zone.”

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