NEW YORK _ At the start and toward the end, this surely looked like a sticky wicket for the Yankees. They were down 5-0 almost instantly and in the ninth inning, they squandered a one-run lead. This was no way to give themselves a sendoff to London. It turned out to be only the prologue for another clutch showing by their offense, which is as dependable as Big Ben.
They bailed out James Paxton and closed out a 9-1 homestand by repeatedly rallying for an 8-7 victory over the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. Gleyber Torres' third hit of the day, a single to right in the bottom of the ninth, drove home Didi Gregorius (who also had three hits) with the winning run. All told, it was the Yankees' way of saying "Cheerio" to a run that has them 24 games over .500, heading into a two-game weekend series against the Red Sox at London Stadium.
After home runs by Gregorius and DJ LeMahieu, which extended their streak to 29 games in which they have homered, the Yankees broke a 6-6 tie with three consecutive singles in the sixth. But Zack Britton gave up a run in the top of the ninth against the foundering Blue Jays, who have lost 38 of their past 53 games. Britton (3-1) wound up getting the victory. Nick Kingham (3-2) took the loss.
A tight schedule during the four-day, two-game trip to England is bound to limit the Yankees' time to see the sights. They are more likely to be the sights, what with the way they have been playing and, particularly, hitting home runs.
What's more, in their final pre-British Isles sojourn, they had reason for optimism because Paxton had looked solid in his previous two starts.
"He's got tremendous stuff and capable, every time he steps out there, of being an elite pitcher," Aaron Boone said before the game. "I think the common thread is his stuff can overwhelm you. I feel like his cutter-slider has been a really good pitch for him his last couple starts. The breaking ball has been there and the fastball, when he really starts locking into that lane where he can drive it up in the zone and work that slider-cutter off of that, that's a pretty lethal combination. He has been really good his last two."
But this was not one of his better days. Before he achieved his first out, he had given up three runs on a three-run home run by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. The hole increased to 5-0 on a two-run homer in the second from Danny Jansen. This was really foreign turf for the Yankees, with the other side beating them at their own longball game.
Yankees power-hitting is as predictable and reliable as the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Sure enough, they tied it against Blue Jays starter Trent Thornton before they incurred their second out in the fourth inning.
Gregorius got them rolling with a home run in the second. After a walk and a single, Aaron Judge cut the deficit to 5-3 in the same inning with a two-run single. In the bottom of the fourth, LeMahieu drew the Yankees even with a one-out, two-run shot to right-centerfield. It was the 12th home run of his impressive season and his second hit of the game.
The Blue Jays regained the lead, 6-5, in the fifth as Gurriel went deep on Paxton again, this time hitting it into the left-center-field bullpen. Paxton was yanked after having allowed six runs on eight hits with four walks and three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. Still, his team's bats protected him from sustaining a loss. They tied it at 6 after he had left the game as Edwin Encarnacion hustled to second for a one-out double in the fifth, advanced on a single by Gregorius and came home on Aaron Hicks' sacrifice fly.
The Yankees knew that no matter how the day went, they would be leaving directly afterward for a unique adventure in England.
"My family is already over there," Boone said. "I've gotten some good pictures from them this morning. I've never been there. So, no real expectation or one thing that I necessarily want to see, but I'm looking forward to getting over there to just kind of experience it. I'm part of a clinic over there tomorrow that we're taking part in. Just looking forward to being somewhere I've never been and experiencing a different culture."
So, what exhilarating experiences has the manager's family had so far? The photos and texts on his phone told the story. "I saw a red phone booth, I saw a nice bridge, Heathrow (Airport)," he said. "And they said the hotel is nice."
