Kikuchi, Clement help Blue Jays spoil Yankees home opener
TORONTO 3 NEW YORK 0
NEW YORK — Pinch-hitter Ernie Clement had a tiebreaking solo home run off Caleb Ferguson leading off the seventh inning, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Yankees 3-0 Friday in New York’s home opener.
“The Toronto faithful may not like this but I was the biggest Yankees fan growing up, so I’m glad we could kick their [butt],” said Clement, who grew up in Rochester, New York.
A 28-year-old who appeared in just 35 major league games over the previous two seasons, Clement drove the second pitch from Ferguson (0-1) into the left-field seats for his first career pinch homer. He was the first Toronto pinch hitter to give the Blue Jays the lead from the seventh inning on since Justin Smoak at Miami on Aug. 31, 2018.
“I just like to keep it simple,” Clement said. “I’m up there looking for a fastball to drive and do damage on, and he laid one in there and I’m just glad I could come through for these guys.”
Juan Soto went 0 for 4 with a pair of strikeouts in his pinstripes debut.
He bowed to fans in right field in the top of the first and was greeted with a standing ovation when he came to the plate in the bottom half. Soto is in a 1-for-16 slide after a 9-for-17 start.
“Just frustration that comes out,” Soto said. “You want to do so [many] things for this fan base and get your team going, and you have the chance to do it and couldn’t get it done. It really gets you mad.”
Marcus Stroman matched Yusei Kikuchi with shutout ball before the bullpens took over. Kikuchi gave up four hits in 5 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts.
He played catch in Central Park on Thursday’s day off.
“It’s my fifth time doing it and I feel like a Central Parker now,” Kikuchi said through a translator. “I found the biggest rock, and I did some visualization from the top of that top rock.”
Nick Burdi threw a pair of run-scoring wild pitches in the ninth, prompting boos from the sellout crowd of 47,812.
Yimi García (1-0) got the final two outs of the sixth and Génesis Cabrera retired two batters in his first appearance since a three-game suspension for causing a benches-clearing incident at Tampa Bay last weekend. Trevor Richards struck out the side in the eighth and Chad Green got his first save since 2022 with the Yankees.
Brewers 6, Mariners 5
MILWAUKEE — Andrés Muñoz walked four batters in the ninth inning to bring home the winning run in the Milwaukee Brewers’ 6-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.
After the Mariners scored twice in the top of the inning to tie it, Muñoz (0-1) opened the bottom half by walking Sal Frelick, Jake Bauers and Brice Turang to load the bases. After Jackson Chourio struck out looking, William Contreras walked on a 3-1 pitch.