Boone decision backfires

Aaron Boone’s first controversial decision as Yankees manager was a gamealtering moment in Sunday’s eighth inning in Toronto. Justin Smoak belted a grand slam, his second homer of the game, to lift the Blue Jays to a 7-4 victory — giving Toronto a four-game split of this season-opening series, after the Yanks had taken the first two games. But should Smoak have been in that situation in the first place? With righthander David Robertson pitching and first base open, Boone elected to intentionally walk the righty-hitting Josh Donaldson (1-for-3, walk) and load the bases for the lefty-hitting Smoak. In his previous at-bat, Smoak hit a two-run homer off Tommy Kahnle, cutting the Yankees’ lead to 4-3 in the seventh. Smoak vs. Robertson was a battle, with Smoak fouling off a couple of full-count curveballs before driving a fastball over the center-field fence. Toronto scored six runs from the seventh inning on, all driven in by Smoak.