TORONTO – As the Yankees prepared for Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage before Game 2 of the ALDS on Sunday, the only hitter on the team who had faced him chimed in.
“He’s kind of deceptive,” J.C. Escarra told his teammates during a pregame hitters meeting. The third-string catcher, who struck out twice against Yesavage in a Triple-A game on Aug. 21, made sure to warn of the right-hander’s over-the-top arm angle, which gives him the highest release point in the majors, and deadly splitter.
When asked how helpful Escarra’s limited scouting report could be, Aaron Boone said he didn’t know. But the Yankees soon found out that it did not make a difference, as Yesavage mowed the Bombers down in Game 2 while their own pitchers crumbled for the second straight day, resulting in a 13-7 victory for Toronto.
With the Yankees permitting double-digits again – the 23 runs they’ve allowed in the ALDS are the most in franchise history over two postseason games – they now find themselves on the brink of elimination with the series moving to New York.
A Monday off day will give the Yankees time to heal, as Yesavage carved them up on Sunday.
Drafted 20th overall out of East Carolina just last year, Yesavage dazzled in the fourth big league start of his career and his postseason debut, holding the Yankees hitless while striking out 11 and walking one over 5.1 scoreless innings. At 22 years and 69 days old, he became the youngest pitcher in MLB history to allow zero hits in a playoff start.
Armed with that devastating splitter, Yesavage repeatedly had the Yankees swinging from their knees. With the pitch inducing 11 whiffs, he had the Rogers Centre rocking well before his Blue Jays broke out for six runs in the fourth inning.
“He’s a good-looking young pitcher,” Boone said a day before his club’s dismantling. “I’ve heard he’s a guy that’s kind of unfazed by being up here in big spots.”
On Sunday, the skipper added that Yesavage would be a “challenge” for his lefty-loaded lineup, as the splitter gives the youngster reverse splits. Those comments proved prescient, as Yesavage, having previously logged just 14 major league innings, went on to outduel $218 million ace and World Series champ Max Fried with ease as the kid’s parents watched from the stands.
It wasn’t until after Jays manager John Schneider lifted Yesavage at 78 pitches to a chorus of boos that the Yankees finally put themselves in the hit and scoring columns, as Aaron Judge legged out an infield single off Justin Bruihl before Cody Bellinger homered in the sixth. Five more Yankees runs followed in the seventh, which included a two-run single from Giancarlo Stanton, but the team was in too big of a hole at that point.
That’s because the Jays had already scored a dozen runs by the time their AL East rival got on the board. Seven of those were charged to Fried, who only lasted three innings, while Will Warren, forced to wear it after surrendering a grand slam to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., took responsibility for six by day’s end.
Even if Yesavage had been hittable, it wouldn’t have mattered with the Blue Jays’ bats shelling the Yankees’ pitchers. But with Toronto receiving big-time contributions at the plate and on the mound, Canada remained a nightmare destination for Boone’s club, which has now lost 7-of-8 games at the Rogers Centre this season.
That trend will have to end if the Yankees hope to win the ALDS, as the series’ potential Game 5 would take place in Toronto if the Yankees can pick up two wins in the Bronx on Tuesday and Wednesday. But after two north of the border embarrassments, that’s looking like a tall task, as teams that took a 2-0 lead at home in the ALDS have won it 31 of 34 times.
