Blue Jays at Yankees
The New York Yankees did not get off to the start they were hoping for over the first three weeks of the regular season, but Aaron Judge is trying to pull them out of the hole. Judge will attempt to continue his hot start and clinch at least a tie of the four-game series when the Yankees host the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.
Judge belted what proved to be the game-winning blast with a solo homer in the seventh inning on Thursday as New York held on for a 4-3 victory, and he hit safely for the 13th time in his last 14 games. The 25-year-old slugger is up to five home runs while batting .339 with a .481 on-base percentage to pick up teammate Giancarlo Stanton, who is off to a slow start with his new team and was dropped from third to fourth in the batting order on Thursday. The Blue Jays came into the series hot with wins in four straight and 12 of 15 but managed just six hits - all singles - in the opener while piling up nine strikeouts. Toronto will try to get the bats going against Yankees right-hander Sonny Gray, who opposes veteran Marco Estrada on Friday.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network, Sportsnet One (Toronto), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays RH Marco Estrada (1-1, 4.24 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Sonny Gray (1-1, 6.92)
Estrada turned in quality starts in his first two outings and was sharp at Baltimore on April 11 before dealing with back spasms. The Long Beach State product ended up charged with four runs on six hits and three walks in the loss to the Orioles. Estrada started at home against New York on March 31, surrendering three runs on four hits with three walks in seven innings, but did not factor in the decision in a game Toronto went on to win 5-3.
Gray was solid in his first two turns as well before getting lit up at Boston on April 12, yielding six runs and seven hits in three innings to absorb the loss. The 28-year-old has yet to surrender a home run this season and owns 15 strikeouts in 13 total innings. Gray started at Toronto on April 1 and scattered seven hits along with three walks across four innings but struck out eight and limited the damage to one run in a no decision.
WALK-OFFS
1. Blue Jays DH Kendrys Morales (hamstring) is expected to be activated from the 10-day disabled list on Friday.
2. New York placed RHP Luis Cessa (oblique) on the 10-day DL Thursday.
3. Toronto 3B Josh Donaldson (shoulder) will not be activated from the 10-day DL when eligible on Saturday but could return next week.