Blue Jays at Yankees
The Toronto Blue Jays suffered a rare loss on Thursday but bounced right back the next day by pounding the ball as usual. The Blue Jays will try to ride their solid offense to a 14th win in 18 games when they visit the New York Yankees on Saturday.
Toronto pounded out 31 runs in three games against the Kansas City Royals this week before slumping a bit in a 4-3 loss in Thursday's opener against the Yankees. The Blue Jays found their offense again and evened the series on Friday, when they clubbed a pair of home runs and rode the hot bat of rookie outfielder Teoscar Hernandez (6-for-14, two homers, seven RBIs in the last three games) to an 8-5 triumph. The positive for the Yankees in the loss came from slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who smacked a home run into the right field seats at Yankee Stadium that registered with an exit velocity on 110 mph. Trying to keep that blast from rolling into a hot streak will be Toronto right-hander Marcus Stroman, who opposes Yankees lefty Jordan Montgomery on Saturday.
TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network, Sportsnet One (Toronto), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays RH Marcus Stroman (0-1, 7.98 ERA) vs. Yankees LH Jordan Montgomery (1-0, 4.70)
Stroman has yet to complete six innings through three starts and allowed four runs on nine hits over five innings at Cleveland on April 13. The New York native surrendered at least four runs in each of his three turns but totaled 16 strikeouts over 14 2/3 innings. Stroman started against the Yankees on April 1 and struck out eight but ended up yielding four runs and three hits over five frames.
Montgomery picked up his first win last time out at Detroit, when he allowed three runs and five hits in six innings. The South Carolina native was roughed up for four runs on 10 hits over 4 1/3 innings in his previous turn. Montgomery did not get a chance to face the Blue Jays in the opening series but went 1-0 with a 0.79 ERA against the division rivals in 2017.
WALK-OFFS
1. Yankees C Gary Sanchez went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts on Friday to snap a six-game hitting streak.
2. Blue Jays DH Kendry Morales (hamstring) went 2-for-5 with a double and scored a pair of runs Friday in his return from the 10-day disabled list.
3. New York INF Ronald Torreyes went 3-for-4 on Friday to raise his batting average to .438.