ATLANTA – The Yankees’ last trip to Toronto turned into a disaster. Now they’re hoping recent history doesn’t repeat itself with the club returning to Canada for three games against the Blue Jays.
Toronto just swept a four-game series against the Bombers between June 30 and July 3. That stretch saw the Jays overtake the Yankees for first place in the American League East. John Schneider’s squad hasn’t relented since, as the 58-41 Jays will enter Monday’s series-opener with a three-game lead over the 55-44 Yankees. They’ve also won 10 straight at Rogers Centre.
“Hopefully we can go have a better result this time around,” Aaron Boone said Sunday before his Yankees pulled off a 4-2, series-winning victory over the Braves in Atlanta.
Boone went on to praise the Blue Jays, who are 5-2 against the Yankees this season.
The entire AL East has given the Yankees fits this year, as Boone’s club is 10-16 against the rest of the division. The AL East woes, coupled with another summer swoon, contributed to the Yankees blowing the seven-game division lead they held on May 28.
“Not good enough to win a division probably,” Boone said when asked about his team’s AL East record. “So hopefully that changes here in the final couple-plus months. We’re positioned to do that. But that’s likely and obviously going to have to improve here in the second half if we’re ultimately going to win the division.
“I would say our first goal is to get in the playoffs. Then it’s to win the division, and then obviously go play for it all. But, yeah, we know we gotta play better within the division.”
The Yankees will have plenty of other chances to reverse their trend of poor play against division rivals after the Toronto series, as the Rays will visit the Bronx at the end of the month, coinciding with the trade deadline. August will bring two more games in Tampa and four against Boston.
Then there’s the potential for a dramatic September, as the Yankees will play 13 divisional games. That includes three against the Blue Jays, three against the Red Sox and seven against the Orioles, who will visit New York for the final three games of the season.
“Anytime you play in the AL East, it’s going to be a gauntlet,” Aaron Judge said. “Every team’s usually always in it, so you have to be ready to go.”
For now, however, the focus is Toronto, where Carlos Rodón, Cam Schlittler and Max Fried will face Kevin Gausman, Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt.
Schlittler will make his second MLB start after experiencing some bicep soreness over the All-Star break, while Fried is slated for his first start since suffering a blister pre-break.
The Yankees’ hope is that their starters and lineup, which exploded for 12 runs on Saturday, can extract some revenge over the next few days, though they’re trying not to think about their last trip north of the border.
“It’s a good time to start getting hot,” Judge acknowledged, but he added, “If we try to think about what happened the last time we played them, it ain’t going to change our record. So we gotta focus on the present and what we can do right now, and just take care of business.”
