Blue Jays Undone in Seventh Inning, Fall to Yankees

A six-run outburst by the Yankees in the seventh inning sealed the Blue Jays' fate on Tuesday.

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

A game can turn in an instant—perfection undone with a single bobble, rogue throw, or controversial call.

Tuesday’s Blue Jays game looked like regularly scheduled programming into the seventh inning. A dominant Alek Manoah doing dominant Manoah things, handed off to the sure-handed bullpen, setting up for the latest late-game Toronto heroics.

But then, a ball sat on the infield dirt for a second too long. A 120 MPH Giancarlo Stanton ripping grounder ate up Bo Bichette at short and a throw pulling Vladimir Guerrero Jr. off the bag allowed Stanton to reach base on an error, beginning the seventh-inning unravelling.

After an umpiring challenge ruled Stanton’s disputed safety at first, five of the next six New York runners reached base as the inning spiralled. Doubles off the wall mixed with a chaotic rundown, disagreeable umpiring decisions, and untimely walks to constitute a six-run frame. Nine unanswered New York runs eventually finalized Toronto’s first series loss of the season.

“It kinda sucks for us,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “That we didn’t get those calls, but that’s how it goes in baseball.”

The unravelling could've happened early, with Alek Manoah missing on six of his first nine pitches. But instead, the big righty righted his opening frame with another ball. Delivering a slider off the outside corner, Manoah out-waited Aaron Judge, drawing a sideways swing at the pitch that was never destined for the zone.

Carving his fastballs, sliding his slider, and mixing in the changeup, Manoah delivered six innings of one-run ball. Matching the high standard he's set early this season, Manoah's only mistake of the night came in a final battle with Judge. Working the count full for the third time on Tuesday, Judge finally guessed right, spinning on an inside fastball and plastering it into the outfield bleachers. Manoah left after six innings, set to lead the Jays to their fourth win over the Yankees in his four career starts against New York. Then the seventh turned Toronto in.

New York's six-run seventh grabbed the Yanks an 11th straight victory and silenced several Toronto streaks. Entering Tuesday, the Jays had a 6-0-1 record in series to begin 2022, but even a win on Wednesday can't prevent the team's first series loss. The loss also tacked back-to-back Ls on Toronto for the first time this season and the first loss with Manoah on the mound in 13 starts.

The streak-snapping outing was unlike almost any other from the Jays this year. Win or lose, the Jays have kept things close all season, preventing the catastrophic inning like the seventh on Tuesday. A single pitch, play, or umpire call could've prevented the game-sealing run of runs. But on Tuesday, it never came.

“When you’re playing close games and not really swinging the bats you gotta make all the plays,” Montoyo said. “We didn’t really do that.”