TORONTO – The sixth-inning grounder was hit to Anthony Volpe’s right, and as he pursued the bouncing object on the Rogers Centre turf, the Yankees shortstop had a split second to read the play. The tying run would score, Ernie Clement was digging hard for first base and Nathan Lukes was chugging into second representing the potential go-ahead run.
Volpe went for the gold, banking on a miracle putout at first base. It backfired; his throw arrived late and Lukes grabbed a free base. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. made the Yankees pay with a hard go-ahead two-run single that rocketed under Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s glove at third base – the deciding runs in New York’s 5-4 loss to the Blue Jays on Monday night.
In review, Volpe said he did not second-guess his decision, believing Clement's ball was a play that needed to be made.
“We’re going to be aggressive, try to make plays and back up the pitcher,” Volpe said. “So that’s baseball. It happens. We had a lot of opportunities after that, too. I feel like we still took good at-bats and put good swings on the ball.”
Earlier in the inning, Volpe had made a sprawling effort to smother Myles Straw’s grounder, but he threw wildly to Chisholm at third base trying to nab Davis Schneider. The ball kicked around behind home plate and allowed an extra base for Straw, an important ingredient as Toronto assembled a four-run outburst despite only two balls leaving the infield.
“They did a good job putting the ball in play. It’s something they’ve done well this year,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We weren’t getting outs on those balls. We obviously gave them a couple of extra bases.”
Boone said he had no problem with Volpe throwing to third base on Straw's grounder, but he didn’t believe Volpe had a play at first on Clement’s hit.
“I’m going to go for that play every single time," Volpe said about the Straw play. "The ball gets knocked down – it’s not an error, but I expect to make that play, whether it’s in the book or not.”
The damage came against the Bombers’ bullpen, spoiling a solid effort by left-hander Carlos Rodón, who exited with a two-run lead. Three runs were charged to Mark Leiter Jr.; Guerrero’s go-ahead smash came off Jonathan Loáisiga.
Watching from the dugout bench, Rodón saw the scoreboard change for the final time in June, a month in which the Yankees finished 13-14 – their first losing month since last July (11-13).
“It’s a wave; it’s up and down,” Rodón said. “We play 162 games for a reason. It’s just one of those months. You just put your head down, keep going, and we’ve got another game tomorrow. You just forget about tonight and try to go win tomorrow.”
The Yankees have also struggled within their division. They are 10-13 against American League East opponents this season and 38-23 against everyone else.
“We’ve got to be a little bit better,” Boone said. “We’ve just got to find a way to finish some of these games.”
On the positive side, Chisholm continued to swing a hot bat, belting his 14th homer to highlight the attack against Max Scherzer. Chisholm has homered in four of his past five games.
And the Yanks clawed back in the eighth, with Cody Bellinger cracking a Mason Fluharty sweeper to right field for his 12th home run. But former Yankee Chad Green induced flyouts from Ben Rice and Volpe to end the eighth, leaving two men on, and Jeff Hoffman slammed the door around Jasson Domínguez’s two-out single in the ninth.
Outcome included, it was a rough night all around, especially on the injury front. Before first pitch, the Yankees placed Fernando Cruz on the injured list with what Boone said was a “high grade” left oblique strain that will cost the right-hander at least a month. Boone also revealed that catcher Austin Wells has been undergoing testing for a circulatory issue in his left index finger.
Then center fielder Trent Grisham exited the game in the fifth inning. Grisham said he felt his left hamstring grab while pursuing Jonatan Clase’s single in the fourth as he caught a cleat in the turf. Grisham said he’d try to remain optimistic, but the postgame body language suggested a likely stint on the injured list.
“They’re great guys, great players, a really big part of our team,” Volpe said. “At the same time, we’ve just got to keep moving and take it one day at a time. We’ve got a lot of really special players in here. Everyone’s going to step up; everyone’s going to grind to get back.”