The New York Yankees won the first two games of a three game series against the Toronto Blue Jays and were going for the sweep Sunday afternoon.
The Yankees had JA Happ making his first start against his former team since being traded to New York ahead of the trade deadline. Happ has been decidedly awesome since coming over, but it looked like the luster could be wearing off in the first inning, but Happ would soon make everyone shut their butts.
Happ got two quick outs, as is becoming commonplace with him, before letting up a solo homer to Randall Grichuk.
What did that poor ball ever do to you, @RGrich15? ? pic.twitter.com/q0FkPcJ3BY
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 19, 2018
Happ then allowed the Blue Jays to knock back-to-back singles to Kendrys Morales and Kevin Pillar before striking out Teoscar Hernandez to end further damage.
The Yankees showed life on offense, though, in a big way. Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton led off the game with back-to-back walks. They, then, pulled double steal to give Miguel Andujar an opportunity with second and third and nobody out.
Miggy pokes it through! 1-1 pic.twitter.com/3tE1B4Sw8S
— David Mendelsohn (@BigBabyDavid_) August 19, 2018
Miggy was able to poke it through the left side due to hitting it pretty hard and the fact the Toronto started 35-year-old lifetime catcher Russell Martin at third base.
Didi Gregorius was up next and he hit a ball hard into the right side, but second baseman Devon Travis made a phenomenal stop to prevent it from going into right field. Didi hustled down the line to beat it out for a single, but Travis’s throw was a little up the base line, causing a collision between Gregorius and Morales at first base.
Didi Gregorius exited the game & was sent to the hospital for further tests after suffering a bruised heel following this collision in the first inning.#YANKSonYES LIVE stream:https://t.co/ONFaE0YXKn pic.twitter.com/qQ1oBPkEU1
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) August 19, 2018
Didi actually stayed in the game to run the bases and then played an inning in the field before exiting. He got further tests for what is currently being called a bruised heel and may or may not be headed for the disabled list.
Gleyber Torres hit a swinging bunt for an infield single that loaded the bases for Greg Bird, who went on to his second home run in as many games for a grand slam.
GRAND SLAM for GREG BIRD!#YANKSonYES LIVE stream:https://t.co/ONFaE0YXKn pic.twitter.com/ClGAWrWXGV
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) August 19, 2018
It was Bird’s second career grand slam, also his second grand slam this season. It seems like he is about to go on another tear. The Yankees were up 6-1 and hadn’t recorded an out yet.
Of course, Kyle Higashioka and Shane Robinson immediately recorded outs before Toronto took out starter Ryan Borucki before he could get out of the first inning. Joe Biagini got a flyout from Brett Gardner to finally end the inning.
Happ settled down in the second and coasted for a while. His final line: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. That’s about what er expect form Happ these days. He just knows how to pitch and limit damage. The second run came on another solo shot, this one from Kendrys Morales.
Manager Aaron Boone then turned to Jonathan Holder for 1.2 innings. He was good, striking out one and allowing no walk or hits.
The Yankees put up four more runs in the sixth on a single by Stanton, an RBI fielder’s choice from Andujar, and a two-run single from Kyle Higashioka.
Sonny Gray pitched the final two innings for the Yanks and was fine enough. He walked one and gave up two hits. I’ll take it.
The Yankees will play a two game series down in Miami next. Masahiro Tanaka and Lance Lynn are the projected starters.
Featured Image via Flickr/Arturo Pardavila III
