Blue Jays 10, Yankees 1 (which is to say Blue Jays 1, Yankees 0)

 

a big stretch from a long guy

Pretty ticklish until the seventh! And that sixth was intense! Kevin Gausman had been dealing until then, of course, and on like no pitches, as the Yankees' clear game-plan of swinging early in counts to avoid the two-strike splitter meant Gausman was only throwing ten-or-so pitches an inning, and he can do that pretty much indefinitely, right? Especially behind a two-run lead on early homers from both Vladdy and Alejandro Kirk (hey thanks guys, seriously, for real)? And some characteristically strong defense (go Vladdy; go, Vladdy)? That sixth, though: bases loaded, nobody out, Aaron Judge at the plate . . . things could have gone south in a hurry. The three-two splitter low and away that Judge chased for strike three was really a heck of a pitch, as was Louis Varland's belt-high 101MPH fastball that beat Giancarlo Stanton down the exact middle of the plate a few batters later. To escape bases loaded, nobody out, against Judge, Bellinger, Rice, and Stanton with only one run coming in is of course not a true NOBLETIGER, but I would argue that, especially given the context, it was a NOBLETIGER of the spirit (I imagine it may well have felt that way to Yankees fans). The Blue Jays' four-run seventh and the four-run eighth that followed made this one a true thrashing down the stretch, with everybody hitting everything off a Yankees bullpen that had, until then, performed admirably (called upon in the third inning after Louis Gil's low-key struggles), but let us not forget the super-tense tension that tensioned tensely before Andres Gimenez singled home the Blue Jays' third run through a drawn-in infield when the outcome of this game still felt very much in doubt. Kirk's second homer of the day (and the fifth in his last ten plate appearances, somehow [Kirk joins Johnny Bench as the only catchers to hit two home runs in a postseason game against the Yankees]) was the clear highlight of those eight runs that sort of felt like they fell from the sky, but there was much to admire all around, and really a lot of fun to be had. In a five-game series, each win is enormous, obviously, but it seemed especially important for us to win this one, with our best pitcher on the mound against the Yankee's number four starter; it seems less likely we'll be able to put ten on the board in game two with Max Fried starting, but the Blue Jays actually hit Fried pretty well this year! So who knows! Young Trey Yesavage will be our guy Sunday afternoon, and it sure would be a whole lot cooler to go into Yankee Stadium up two games to none rather than all squared up. Someone should communicate this important truth to the Toronto Blue Jays, lest they, in their haste, overlook it. 

KS