Goins’ hidden-ball trick, slam sink Yankees
Toronto — Ryan Goins successfully pulled off a hidden-ball trick and hit his second career grand slam, leading the Toronto Blue Jays over Masahiro Tanaka and the Yankees 8-1 Friday night and ensuring New York had to wait at least one more day to clinch a playoff berth. With Todd Frazier on base following a leadoff double in the third, Jose Bautista made a running catch just in front of the right field warning track on Jacoby Ellsbury’s one-out drive. Goins caught Bautista’s throw while standing near second base, then pretended to toss the ball to pitcher Marco Estrada while slipping in into his glove.
Goins turned his back to Frazier, who had returned to the base, and when Frazier briefly lifted his left foot off the base, Goins tagged him on the left thigh. Frazier insisted he had maintained contact with the base, but umpire Mark Carlson called him out to end the inning.
Goins, Russell Martin and Teoscar Hernandez homered off Tanaka (1212), who has allowed 35 home runs, one behind major league leader John Lackey of the Chicago Cubs.
Tanaka gave up eight runs — seven earned — six hits and three walks in 5 2/3 innings, raising his ERA to 4.94. Tanaka has allowed seven earned runs five times this season, including twice in his last three starts.
Aaron Judge hit a solo home run for the Yankees, a drive that would have gone 469 feet unimpeded, his second-longest this season according to Major League Baseball’s Statcast. Judge leads the AL with 46 home runs, including nine in September.
New York needed to win and have both the Los Angeles Angels and Texas lose to guarantee at least a wild card spot.
Making his first start since agreeing to a $13 million deal with the Blue Jays for 2018, Estrada (10-8) allowed three hits in seven innings, improving to 5-0 in his last six starts. The Blue Jays are 37-23 against the Yankees since July 26, 2014.
Judge, who also walked twice, homered in the first. Bautista’s RBI grounder tied the score in the bottom half, Hernandez hit a solo homer into the third deck in the third, and Martin hit a two-run drive in the fourth.
Goins, who connected on an 0-2 pitch, hit his first career slam at Milwaukee on May 24. He is 10 for 14 with 20 RBIs with the bases loaded situations this season. The New York Jets will be without starting right guard Brian Winters for their home opener Sunday against the Miami Dolphins because of an abdominal injury. Winters was injured last Sunday at Oakland and replaced by fourthyear backup Dakota Dozier. Coach Todd Bowles says Friday that Dozier and Brent Qvale split the snaps this week during practice, but he had not yet decided on who would start. Tight end Eric Tomlinson was ruled out with an elbow injury that sidelined him against the Raiders. The Minnesota Vikings face another quarterback quandary, with Sam Bradford sidelined against Tampa Bay because of an ailing left knee and Case Keenum set for his second straight start. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer eliminated the mystery before the weekend this time. He ruled out Bradford, who was not at practice Friday because of his injury from the season opener against New Orleans.