TORONTO – The Yankees were a sure thing to run their winning streak to 10 and match the best start in franchise history, until they suddenly weren’t.
With the combination of a rare poor outing by a rotation member and just-as-rare subpar work from their bullpen, the Yankees’ nine-game winning streak came to an end Sunday in a 10-9 loss to the Blue Jays in front of 44,395 at Rogers Centre.
The Yankees (49-17), who still won the series by taking the first two games here and lead the Blue Jays (38-28) by 11 games in the AL East, appeared poised for a sweep when they took an 8-3 lead into the bottom of the sixth.
But Luis Severino allowed the first two batters of the inning to reach and Miguel Castro completely imploded, allowing Lourdes Gurriel’s first career grand slam later in the frame to make it 8-7. Wandy Peralta, who stranded a runner at second by recording to the third out of the sixth after replacing Castro, had his own implosion in the seventh, allowing Teoscar Hernandez’s three-run homer that made it 10-8.
Yankees relievers entered the day with a 2.79 ERA this season – the second-lowest mark in the Majors, trailing Houston’s 2.55 – including a 1.16 ERA during the nine-game winning streak.
The Yankees, who lead MLB in comeback wins with 19, predictably made it interesting.
After Toronto righty Yimi Garcia struck out his fourth straight batter – he struck out the side in the seventh – in Aaron Hicks for the first out of the eighth, Aaron Boone sent up the lefty-swinging Anthony Rizzo to pinch hit. Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo countered by bringing in lefty Tim Mayza and Rizzo swatted a 1-and-1 slider into the second deck in right, his 18th homer, and seventh in his last 15 games, making it 10-9. It was Rizzo’s first career pinch-hit homer.
Marwin Gonzalez, who homered in the sixth to make it 8-3, reached on an infield single and Jose Trevino, pinch-hitting for Joey Gallo, walked on four pitches. In came Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano, who retired DJ LeMahieu on a fly ball to right, then struck out Aaron Judge swinging at a 98-mph fastball.
Romano struck out Josh Donaldson, who hit a two-run homer in the third to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead and was booed throughout by a crowd that cheered him loudly during his 2015 AL MVP season as a Blue Jay, to start the ninth. Giancarlo Stanton walked on four pitches but Gleyber Torres, who had three hits – including a homer – and was a triple shy of the cycle, flied to right. Aaron Hicks singled, which put runners at the corners for Rizzo. After Hicks stole second, Rizzo, on a full-count breaking ball, grounded to second, giving Romano his 17th save in 19 chances.
Luis Severino, part of a rotation that brought the lowest ERA in the AL into the game (2.71), contributed to that number ticking up a bit after the righthander allowed five runs, three hits and four walks over five-plus innings. Severino, who fell to 4-2, 3.27, was 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA in his previous five starts.
Toronto lefty Yusei Kikuchi, 0-2 with a 10.61 ERA in three previous starts this month and 2-3 with a 4.80 ERA overall, allowed three runs, three hits and three walks over four innings.
The Yankees upped their MLB-leading home run total 109, getting homers from Torres, Donaldson, Kyle Higashioka, Gonzalez and Rizzo. Higashioka, who homered for the fourth time in four games, and Gonzalez went back-to-back in the sixth for the 8-3 lead.
