TANAKA SPINS A GEM, SHUTS DOWN JAYS
Baseball’s hottest hitters handcuffed during pitching duel
The two teams that had been swinging the most powerful bats in baseball during the last month or so finally cooled down on a warm Sunday afternoon at the ballpark.
Masahiro Tanaka was masterful, outduelling Trent Thornton, allowing the New York Yankees to split the four-game weekend series with the Blue Jays thanks to a 1-0 win.
Often using an on-point slider, Tanaka surrendered an infield single to Bo Bichette to lead off the game, then set down the
Jays in order until Justin Smoak began the eighth inning with a single. A double-play got Tanaka out of danger and allowed him to come out for the ninth since he was only at 91 pitches.
A Brandon Drury single to start the ninth prompted the Yankees to pull Tanaka in favour of flame-thrower Aroldis Chapman.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was supposed to get the matinee off, was summoned to pinch hit and battled the Yankees closer for 13 pitches. The Jays rookie fouled off a number of pitches, including yanking a foul ball that hit the facing of the upper deck.
Eventually, the veteran escaped, inducing Guerrero to ground into a double-play. The fans at Rogers Centre responded to the most exciting at-bat of the day by giving Guerrero a standing ovation as he trotted back to the dugout.
After a Bichette single, Chapman struck out Cavan Biggio to end the game.
For Toronto, Thornton wasn’t too shabby, striking out six of the first 11 batters to start the game.
Thornton’s perfect start ended when Gio Urshela doubled in front of a sliding Teoscar Hernandez, who made a bad read on the ball, initially moving back.
Brett Gardner then scored Urshela on a ground-rule double.
Considering New York and Toronto had hit the most homers in the majors in recent weeks and Toronto was on its best longball run in nearly a decade, it was somewhat surprising that the single run stood up.
New York improved to an AL East-best 77-41, while the Jays fell to 49-72.
Toronto opens a home set against Texas on Monday.
Bichette’s single snapped an 0-for-9 skid and pulled him to 14 straight games reaching base to start his career. He added another single in the ninth. Ted Williams holds the record for any player, reaching base an astounding 84 straight games in 1949.
Guerrero has been on fire the last two weeks, slashing .370/.420/.696 in that span with three homers and 13 RBIS. Many fans grumbled on social media about the team’s biggest star missing a Sunday home game against the Yankees, which they paid premium prices for.
Speaking of Guerrero, you aren’t wrong if you watch him hit and think to yourself, “His hits just look different than those of nearly any other player.”
According to Mlb.com, Guerrero’s single on Saturday was the fourth-hardest hit ball this season. Guerrero has two of the four hardest hits, three of the top eight and four of the top 14. Nobody else has more than two on those lists.
Injured Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton’s 120.6-m.p.h. rocket in March (a 279-foot single) is the hardest hit this year and Stanton and Guerrero both have 118.9-m.p.h. singles. Guerrero also hit a 118.3-m.p.h. double on Thursday.
A name to watch when it comes to these things? Cincinnati Reds rookie Aristides Aquino, who is off to a torrid start. Aquino also had a 118.3-m.p.h. hit on Thursday, but his was a home run. That’s tied with Gary Sanchez and Pete Alonso for the hardest-hit homers this season.
Last year, Stanton had 10 of the 12 hardest hits in the majors, but he’s only played in nine games in 2019.