Yanks use long ball to take down Jays
TORONTO — Todd Frazier homered and drove in three runs and the New York Yankees added five late insurance runs for an 11-5 American League victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.
The Yankees (60-52) reeled off two runs in the eighth inning and three in the ninth with Jays reliever Taylor Cole, in his major-league debut, suffering the worst of it.
Led by Frazier, the bottom of the New York batting order did most of the damage with hitters No. 6 through No. 9 driving in nine runs on the night.
Frazier, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius all hit early solo home runs off Jays debutant Nick Tepesch (0-2) before 39,554 with the roof open at Rogers Centre. The Yankees added three more in the fifth for a 6-2 lead.
But, for a while, Toronto (53-60) kept chipping away despite being outhit 17-6. Jose Bautista hit his 18th homer of the season to open the fifth for Toronto. Then Ryan Goins’ RBI double and Josh Donaldson’s RBI single cut the Yankee lead to 6-5 in the sixth.
The Yankees padded the lead in the eighth via Ronald Torreyes’s two-run single off Cole, the Jays’ sixth pitcher of the night. The 27year-old, whose fastball hit 95 m.p.h., gave up a double, single, walk and single after inheriting a runner.
It could have been more but Torreyes was thrown out at home trying to score from second on a single. Cole ended the inning on a high note, striking out giant slugger Aaron Judge.
Cole loaded the bases on two singles and a hit batsmen in the ninth and the hits kept coming, producing three more runs.
Reliever Chad Green (2-0) got the win as the Yankees, who had lost six of their last nine, evened the three-game series at 1-1.
The Jays came into the game having won four of their past six and nine of their past 15.