Canada Dry: Jays struggles will aid surging Bombers
THE YANKEES didn’t win a baseball game Wednesday night as much as they survived a mud-wrestling match in The Bronx. Yet the takeaway proved obvious:
The deeper the Blue Jays’ hole becomes, the wider the Yankees’ window opens.
CC Sabathia’s third straight poor start proved a mere hiccup for Aaron Judge and his fellow pinstriped mashers, who teamed with great bullpen work in an 8-6 victory over Toronto on this long, chilly Yankee Stadium night; the series edge, 2-1; and, thanks to the Red Sox’s 4-2 triumph over the Orioles at Fenway Park, sole occupancy of the American League East penthouse with a 17-9 record.
Judge, by contributing a thirdinning, two-run blast to center field, became the youngest player in baseball history to hit 13 homers in the first 26 games of a season. The second-most astounding statistic to result from this game? The Blue Jays, widely regarded as a serious contender before the season started (that Davidoff guy from The Post has them making the World Series), dropped to 9-19 — the worst record in the majors — after blowing 4-0 and 6-3 advantages.
“They’re probably not where they want to be at,” Brett Gardner, who contributed two singles and two walks from the leadoff spot, said of the Jays. “But there’s a lot of season left.”
True, although Gardner, as a member of last year’s Yankees team that never fully recovered from an 8-16 beginning, knows darn well the perils of a terrible start.
And this feels terrible for the Jays. Their best player, Josh Donaldson (right calf ), and arguably their best pitcher, Aaron Sanchez (split nail on right middle finger), currently sit on the disabled list, as do shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (right hamstring) and starting pitcher J.A. Happ (left elbow). Long Island native Marcus Stroman, who had enjoyed an excellent April, started for the Jays and lasted just three innings, allowing five runs, before departing due to what he described as “some general arm tightness.”
Stroman said he would make his next scheduled start, Tuesday at home against the Indians. Asked whether he would undergo tests, Stroman said, “No. I feel great.” Which is pretty much what Noah Syndergaard said last week, right?
Losers of each of the prior two AL Championship Series, the Jays knew this might be the last run for this veteran-laden roster. So if they can’t mount a major run in the next couple of months, they will look to sell off pieces like pitcher Marco Estrada, iconic outfielder Jose Bautista and perhaps even Donaldson, who can be a free agent after next year, in an attempt to emulate last year’s Yankees and restock their talent supply.
An absent Blue Jays team would aid the Yankees greatly in their attempt to pull off an upset entry into the postseason. When you throw in the early struggles out West of Seattle and Texas, both of whom expected to contend, the Yankees potentially face a far easier paths to both the division title and a wild-card berth than anyone could have anticipated.
Naturally, plenty of time remains before teams get even to the juncture of serious trade talks, and odds dictate at least one team out of the Blue Jays, Mariners and Rangers will figure things out and enter the race. The Blue Jays have to be the least likely of that trio to rebound, though, just because of how bad their record is and how many guys they have out of commission.
“Since their tough start, they’re basically playing .500,” Joe Girardi, who drew a seventh-inning ejection from home-plate umpire Bill Welke, said of the Jays. “They’ve played better since the first 10 games.”
While the Yankees’ manager spoke the truth, he damned his opponent with faint praise. After starting 1-9, the Jays are 8-10. Which leaves them still in a jam, the Yankees among the beneficiaries.
For every team that remembers a year fondly, there exists an opposite entry, one that can’t wait to forget what went down. Can the Blue Jays be the Yankees’ opposite? It would mean the opposite of bad news for the Yankees.