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All Rise! Judge drives in three runs as Yankees dump Jays 9-1 for 11th win in a row

May 3, 2022 | 8:30 PM

TORONTO — Aaron Judge homered and drove in three runs as the New York Yankees extended their winning streak to 11 games with a 9-1 rout of the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.

Judge went deep in the sixth inning and added a two-run double in New York’s six-run seventh. Giancarlo Stanton tacked on a two-run shot in the ninth as the Yankees improved to an MLB-best 18-6 on the season.

Toronto starter Alek Manoah threw six strong innings before the Yankees turned on the Blue Jays’ bullpen. It was the first time this season that Toronto (15-10) has lost back-to-back games.

New York’s Jameson Taillon (2-1) allowed one earned run and five hits over six innings with four strikeouts. 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., hit two doubles for Toronto. Bo Bichette and Alejandro Kirk added two hits apiece. 

The Blue Jays fell 3 1/2 games behind New York in the American League East standings and will lose a series for the first time this year. The Yankees will go for a three-game sweep on Wednesday night at Rogers Centre.

Manoah opened the game by walking Aaron Hicks on four pitches and gave up a one-out single to Anthony Rizzo that put runners on the corners. He struck out Stanton and got Josh Donaldson on a comebacker to end the threat.

The Blue Jays had runners in scoring position in the first and fourth innings, but didn’t score until the fifth when Bichette drove in Kirk from second base with an RBI single. 

Manoah retired 15 in a row before Hicks lashed a one-out single in the sixth inning. Hicks was caught stealing before Judge tied the game with a no-doubt solo shot for his ninth homer of the season. 

With sidearmer Adam Cimber (4-1) on the hill, Stanton reached on a Bichette error in the seventh inning.

The Toronto shortstop knocked down the ball but his hurried throw was wide, pulling Guerrero off the bag. The Blue Jays challenged first base umpire Marty Foster’s call but were unsuccessful.

New York’s offence soon went to work. Donaldson drove in Stanton with a double and Marwin Gonzalez added an RBI double of his own to make it 3-1. 

Julian Merryweather came on and gave up an infield single to Isiah Kiner-Falefa before getting Jose Trevino to hit a grounder to Guerrero, who threw home to try to get the lead runner in Gonzalez.

After a few throws in a rundown, Guerrero appeared to apply the tag but umpire Ron Kulpa ruled he didn’t make contact. 

The Blue Jays couldn’t challenge and were suddenly down by three runs with Trevino and Kiner-Falefa moving into scoring position. Hicks drove in Kiner-Falefa and later scored himself on Judge’s gapper as a tight game became a romp.

Stanton’s blast — his fifth of the year — was measured at 444 feet.

Manoah allowed three hits, one walk and had seven strikeouts. Announced attendance was 22,491 and the game took two hours 57 minutes to play. 

TEO BABY

Teoscar Hernandez kicked off a rehab assignment Monday night by hitting a two-run homer for the Dunedin Blue Jays in a single-A game against the Clearwater Threshers. 

Hernandez, who could return to the big-league club later this week, is coming back from an oblique injury. He finished with two hits and a strikeout in four plate appearances.

SERIES FINALE

Left-handers are scheduled to square off in the three-game series finale. Yusei Kikuchi (0-1, 5.52 ERA) gets the start for Toronto against Nestor Cortes (1-0, 1.31)

HITTING THE ROAD

Toronto will hit the road Thursday for a nine-game road trip with stops in Cleveland, New York and Tampa Bay. Sunday’s game against the Guardians, the finale of a four-game set, will end a stretch of 20 games in 20 days for the Blue Jays.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 3, 2022. 

Follow @GregoryStrongCP on Twitter.

Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press