Blue Jays at Yankees
Giancarlo Stanton made a spectacular New York Yankees debut by swatting two homers and driving in four runs in a season-opening win at Toronto. Stanton's fortunes have taken a downhill spiral since his splashy introduction to his new team and there is talk of dropping him in the batting order when the Yankees host the Blue Jays on Thursday in the opener of a four-game set.
Stanton was hitless in four at-bats in Tuesday's 9-1 loss to visiting Miami, dipping his batting average at Yankee Stadium to a woeful .086 (3-for-35) with 20 strikeouts. "He's one at-bat away from getting it locked back in, and then the last thing you want is him down in the order getting pitched around," New York manager Aaron Boone told reporters. "He's too premier of a player, and an at-bat away, in my eyes, from locking it in." Toronto was locked in Wednesday, completing a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals with a 15-5 romp to extend its winning streak to four games. Teoscar Hernández went 4-for-6 with a homer, triple and four RBIs and Curtis Granderson capped the rout with a grand slam as the Blue Jays outscored Kansas City 31-12.
TV: 6:35 p.m. ET, MLB Network, Sportsnet One (Toronto), WPIX (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays RH Aaron Sanchez (1-1, 3.66 ERA) vs. Yankees LH CC Sabathia (0-0, 4.00)
Sanchez has been solid since dropping his season debut against the Yankees, when he gave up four runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings. He rebounded with consecutive quality starts, permitting three runs on six hits over six innings in a no-decision versus the Chicago White Sox before beating Baltimore with eight innings of one-run ball. Didi Gregorius is 5-for-13 against Sanchez, who has limited Brett Gardner to 2-for-16.'
Sabathia (hip) was scheduled to come off the disabled list Tuesday but New York held him back two more days to start against the Blue Jays. He pitched five innings in a no-decision at Toronto on March 31, yielding two runs (one earned) on five hits over five innings and escaped with another no-decision despite giving up three homers in four innings at Baltimore. Justin Smoak is 10-for-29 with two home runs against Sabathia.
WALK-OFFS
1. Toronto has won 12 of 15 since dropping the first two games of the season to the Yankees.
2. Yankees RF Aaron Judge was 3-for-15 in the opening series at Toronto but hit in every game since until going 0-for-2 on Tuesday.
3. Blue Jays DH Kendrys Morales (hamstring) is expected to come off the disabled list Friday but 3B Josh Donaldson will not return Saturday.