BACK AND BOO!
Returning crowd lets Yankees hear it in Opening Day loss to Toronto
For the first time since 2019, Yankees fans got to boo in The Bronx.
The Yankees suffered a season-opening 3-2 loss in 10 innings to Toronto on Thursday, blowing several opportunities to put the game away, including in the bottom of the ninth.
Then in the 10th, Nick Nelson allowed an RBI double to Randal Grichuk, scoring Jonathan Davis from second, where he started the inning due to an MLB rule instituted last season.
The Yankees failed to score in the bottom of the inning, as Aaron Hicks, Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres all struck out against Julian Merryweather, but the game was really lost in the ninth, when the Yankees couldn’t push the winning run across.
Even though capacity was limited to 20 percent per state regulations, the sellout crowd of 10,850 made its presence felt during a game that lasted 3:44 on a brisk afternoon.
“It’s part of it,’’ Aaron Judge said of the crowd reaction. “Those fans, they want to watch us win and they let us know when we don’t do our job and we didn’t do our job today. We just didn’t execute.”
Judge put himself at the top of the list, pointing to his inning-ending double play in the seventh, when the Yankees had the bases loaded and the game was tied, and then again two innings later, when he struck out with the winning run at third.
“I’ve just got to get the ball in the air [in the seventh] and give us the lead,’’ said Judge, who left five runners on base. “In the ninth, the same thing, we had guys in scoring position and I didn’t come through.”
Gary Sanchez started the bottom of the ninth with a walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Mike Tauchman, who stole second.
After Jay Bruce struck out, Tauchman swiped third with Clint Frazier at the plate, forcing the infield in. Frazier then walked — replaced at first by Brett Gardner — to bring up DJ LeMahieu.
But LeMahieu grounded to third and Tauchman was thrown out at the plate, then Judge whiffed to end the threat and send the game to extra innings.
“It’s hard to break through,” Aaron Boone said. “Credit [Toronto] with executing some pitches. Toward the end of the game, it got pretty challenging for the hitters with the shadows, but we had our chances.”
Gerrit Cole started the game for the Yankees and allowed two runs in 5 ¹/3 innings, striking out eight.
The right-hander, starting on Opening Day for the third time in his career, gave up a run in the second. After Sanchez’s two-run homer in the bottom of the inning gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead, Cole allowed a solo shot to Teoscar Hernandez in the sixth to tie the game.
Cole was mostly pleased with his outing, but regretted that pitch to Hernandez.
“I just want that slider back,’’ Cole said.
“It was a bad pitch.”
The game stayed knotted until the 10th, thanks in part to strong work out of the Yankees’ bullpen, with Chad Green, Jonathan Loaisiga and Darren O’Day combining to pitch 3 2/3 scoreless innings before Nelson faltered. But it wasn’t enough. Cole allowed three straight singles to start the second, which allowed Toronto to go up, 1-0.
Torres had a one-out flare single to left in the bottom of the second and after Gio Urshela struck out, Sanchez hit a two-run shot to left on the first pitch he saw this season to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.
The Yankees had a chance to add to that advantage in the fifth with two outs and two on, but second baseman Marcus Semien ranged far to his left and made a diving stop of a LeMahieu grounder and a strong throw to first to keep it a one-run game.