4 Takeaways From the Blue Jays' Sunday Comeback Over the Yankees
The Yankees' brooms must've been seized at the border.
Facing an 8-3 deficit and a three-game sweep on Sunday, the Blue Jays clapped back against New York. For the first time this weekend, Toronto out-bombed the boys from the Bronx.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s sixth-inning slam and Teoscar Hernandez's three-run shot an inning later lifted the Blue Jays off the mat. When the Yankees punched back, again, pushing the tying run to second in the eighth, Jordan Romano slammed the door and helped Toronto avoid their fifth straight loss with an exciting comeback win.
Here are four takeaways from the Blue Jays' 10-9 victory:
Hernandez and Gurriel Slam Back
It had been a few hours since the Rogers Centre crowd had anything meaningful to cheer for and a few days since a win felt truly in reach.
But with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. delivered the crowd of 44,395 a jolt of excitement and a glimmer of hope. Connecting with a sixth-inning sinker from Miguel Castro, Gurriel laced a liner to left. Aaron Hicks drifted back for a moment before turning and watching the ball slide over the left-field wall, slicing New York's lead to one and returning optimism to Rogers Centre.
An inning later, Teoscar Hernández grabbed the momentum and launched it into deep center field. With a three-run blast, the Jays re-took the lead for the first time since the third inning. This time, they didn't give it back.
"Against the Yankees, everything is gonna be like that," Hernandez said. "Everybody knows the team that they have and the run that they're on right now. They're a pretty good team, everybody knows that, that's why they're in first place and we know if we play good against them and beat them, we're in a good spot."
Romano's Lengthy Save
The last time Jordan Romano faced these Yankees, Aaron Judge took him deep to the Yankee Stadium bleachers, earning a monstrous homer and a walk-off New York win.
On Sunday, Montoyo asked Romano to sit Judge down in a huge spot, and he wanted a few more outs, too. With two men on and one out in the eighth, Romano ended the threat and then returned to the clubhouse to hype himself up for the next inning, staring into the mirror and encouraging himself to stay present for the ninth.
"Your minds gotta be where your feet are," Romano told himself. "Stay here, stay in the moment."
He returned to navigate the top of New York's order for a needed save. The righty left Giancarlo Stanton standing at third in the ninth, beating Anthony Rizzo on his 28th pitch to seal the win. Romano had just one five-out save in his career and hadn't pitched over an inning yet this season. But with just three appearances in June, Toronto's closer had the stamina to take the team home.
Donaldson At the Center Of It All
Josh Donaldson never shies from the limelight.
He didn't when he was a member of the Blue Jays for four seasons, and he doesn't now, returning. to Toronto in pinstripes. Just three innings into Sunday's game, Donaldson already had a bat spike and a bat flip.
Hit by a pitch in the first, Donaldson hucked his lumber to the ground as he stormed up the first base line, and was back-picked at first a batter later. In the third, he gave his bat a gentler landing, flipping it out of his hand as he admired the second-deck bomb he sent into the outfield seats to take the lead.
Donaldson finished his day staring at a ninth-inning Romano slider dropped into the top of the zone. The Yankee 3B leaned. back in his stance and slowly slugged back to the road dugout with a backward K.
Kirk's Defense
Toronto's starter Yusei Kikuchi hit two of the first six batters he faced, plunking Donaldson and Aaron Hicks. But both times, within seconds of the free passes, Alejandro Kirk picked up his starter and erased the runners on the base paths. The back-pick at first behind Donaldson and gun to second to nab Hicks were just the latest additions to Kirk's ever-improving defensive resume.
"I'm voting for him for the All-Star Game," Montoyo said.
He entered Sunday's outing without a passed ball, with the lowest catcher ERA on the Blue Jays (3.1), and improved his team-best 35% caught-stealing rate. His +7 defensive runs saved are the second-best in baseball (minimum 200 IP) and he entered Sunday as the 11th ranked framer behind the dish.
Mitch Bannon is a baseball reporter for Sports Illustrated covering the Toronto Blue Jays and their minor league affiliates.Twitter: @MitchBannon