BRONX, NY — Spencer Jones supplied the early power and Cam Schlittler battled through six innings as the Yankees opened their longest homestand of the season with a 3-1 victory over the Blue Jays Friday night in the Bronx.
The 25-year-old rookie outfielder, hitting a two-run homer in the second inning before a crowd of 45,062 at Yankee Stadium on Cody Bellinger Bobblehead Night, helped lead New York to improve to a record of 73-55—the second-best mark in the American League—keeping the Yankees three games behind the Rays in the AL East.
Trent Grisham opened the second with a walk and stole second without a throw. Jones then drove a pitch from Spencer Arrighetti toward the foul pole in right field, very reminiscent of the Pete Alonso play from earlier this week in Baltimore and was called foul. The home run call was upheld following a replay review, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead.
The blast ended New York’s early scoring drought one inning later than desired with the Yankees having gone 20 consecutive games without scoring in the first inning which has been a struggle without the captain Aaron Judge who has been one of the best power hitters in the game year-by year, but especially in first innings (1.146 OPS in 50 at-bats this season before hitting the IL).
Jones has become an important piece of New York’s recent surge. Since July 26th, the young left-handed hitting slugger is batting .298 with five home runs and a .792 OPS. His strikeout rate has fallen from 44.4% to 35.1% as he has slowed his bat speed down, improving his bat to ball contact.
“He’s been adaptable,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “The experience he’s gaining, I feel like, is very valuable, and he’s applying it well every day.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone has seen a lot of improvement in Spencer Jones’ game as the 25-year-old rookie’s season has gone on – Image Credit: Alan Bautista/Latino Sports
Jones finished 1-for-3 and nearly made a sliding catch on a Brett Bateman seventh-inning drive, but the ball came loose and the play was scored a triple. Brent Headrick responded by striking out George Springer to strand Bateman.
The Yankees added a run in the fourth as George Lombard Jr. singled, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on José Caballero’s sacrifice fly. Lombard endured an uneven night, finishing with three strikeouts and an error on a dropped foul pop, but his hit helped produce an important insurance run.
Toronto scored its only run in the fifth when Alejandro Kirk—who was decked out in catchers gear paying homage to his homeland of Mexico and Canada for MLB Players’ Weekend—extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an RBI single.
Schlittler escaped further trouble by inducing Jesús Sánchez into an inning-ending double play.
Making yet another case in the race for the AL Cy Young Award, the 25-year-old right-hander (11-6, 2.16 ERA) allowed one run on six hits, walked three and struck out four over six innings (96 pitches, 59 for strikes).
“He struggled to kind of get in a rhythm, but didn’t break,” Boone said of Schlittler, wearing Star Wars themed cleats in his outing Friday night. “For him to give us six strong and one run, make those early runs stand up was big.”
Headrick, Paul Blackburn and David Bednar combined for three scoreless innings with Blackburn lowering his ERA to 1.77, as Bednar earned his 30th save by striking out Bateman to end the game.
The Yankees improved to 18-39 when scoring three runs or fewer, the best record in baseball in those games.
Their 18 such wins are tied for second most in the majors.
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