NEW YORK – This series has been circled on the Yankees’ calendars for some time, last year’s postseason memories still simmering while the Blue Jays occupy the visitors’ dugout in the Bronx. As Jazz Chisholm Jr. put it: “We owe you something.”
So far, that debt is being repaid – though not without drama.
One night after David Bednar teetered on the brink in a shaky ninth inning, Camilo Doval navigated trouble to lock down his first save of the year as the Yankees secured a 5-4 victory over the Blue Jays on Tuesday in the Bronx.
“That’s what makes baseball fun,” said Ben Rice, who hit his 16th homer, tying Aaron Judge for the team lead. “Of course, we’d rather it be a nice 1-2-3, but the reality is, it’s not always going to be that way. When they’re threatening with runners in scoring position, it’s our job to lock it in and stop them.”
Down three runs early to Dylan Cease, the Yankees found life.
Ryan McMahon tied the score with a three-run homer in the fourth, an opposite-field drive that snapped an 0-for-24 skid and set up Rice to launch a go-ahead two-run shot in the fifth.
Judge and Rice are just the second Yankees duo to belt 16 or more homers before the team’s 50th game, joining Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle, who did it in 1956.
“It’s starting to get to the point where you just kind of expect it from Benny,” McMahon said. “He’s been locked in. He’s an awesome player, and he’s come through for us big time.”
Yankees starter Will Warren navigated five innings, scattering six hits. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that while he didn’t believe Warren was necessarily hit hard, the righty missed a few locations and “was a little bit victimized by some balls that found grass.”
“I didn’t execute some pitches, but their M.O. is that they’re super aggressive,” Warren said. “They’re going to put the ball in play. They put the pressure on.”
With Bednar and Fernando Cruz both unavailable due to heavy workloads, Boone – and bench coach Brad Ausmus, who took over once Boone was ejected after the seventh inning – had to mix and match for the final 12 outs.
“It was nerve-wracking, but we trust those guys down there,” Warren said.
Tim Hill, Jake Bird and Brent Headrick combined for three scoreless innings before Doval got the call in the ninth – once familiar territory for the hard-throwing right-hander, an All-Star in 2023, when he notched a National League-best 39 saves for the Giants.
But as with Bednar on Monday, it didn’t start well. Doval walked Andrés Giménez on six pitches, then surrendered a broken-bat single to Ernie Clement, who pinch-hit despite a case of strep throat that kept him out of the starting lineup.
Doval got serious, flashing a heater that registered up to 102.1 mph.
“I think it’s adrenaline,” Doval said through interpreter Marlon Abreu. “You transform yourself on the mound. I’m just trying to do my job.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, but Clement didn’t tag up from second base, which loomed large as the inning continued. Daulton Varsho chopped a two-out grounder to the right side. Rice dived for the ball, and Doval was late covering the bag on the infield hit.
“Obviously, we’ve got to get over in that spot,” Boone said.
Toronto had runners at the corners, but it couldn’t capitalize as Doval induced Kazuma Okamoto to hit into a game-ending fielder’s choice. The Yankees are 11-1 in their past 12 home games.
“Camilo bent, but he didn’t break,” Boone said. “To go through the heart of the order there to finish it off, I love that poise.”
None of these ninth innings are reminding anyone of Mariano Rivera, though Doval said he’d welcome the opportunity to close more games – something the Yanks might eventually entertain, considering Bednar’s inconsistency thus far.
For now, at least the job is getting done – and with a pair of wins under their belts against the Blue Jays, the Yankees are beginning to settle their tab.
“Coming to the Yankees, I’ve always said that every game feels like a World Series kind of game,” Doval said. “The energy, the adrenaline; you see the guys, how much they care. That’s contagious. You want to pitch in games like that.”