George Springer went 5-for-5, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a three-run homer to cap a five-run second inning off Frankie Montas, and the Toronto Blue Jays ran roughshod on the Yankees 9-2 on Thursday night in the Bronx.
Jose Berríos (9-5, 5.39ERA) bounced back from a pair of rough outings to pitch 6 2/3 effective innings. The right-hander allowed two runs on six hits, struck out nine and walked one.
Playing designated hitter for the sixth straight game, leadoff batter Springer had a double and four singles, including an RBI hit ahead of Guerrero’s homer. It was the fourth five-hit game of his career and his since May 12, 2019, with Houston.
He became the second Blue Jay with a five-hit game against the Yankees, joining Roy Howell, who went 5 for 6 on Sept. 10, 1977, in New York toward the end of Toronto’s inaugural season.
Springer became the first leadoff hitter to get five hits against the Yankees since Stan Javier went 5-for-6 for Seattle on Aug. 6, 2000, in New York. Coming off Josh Donaldson’s walk-off grand slam that gave the Yankees an 8-7 win over Tampa Bay on Wednesday night, New York laid an egg and are now 4-13 in the last 17 games.
Alejandro Kirk had an RBI double and a sacrifice fly for the Blue Jays, who are nine games behind the AL East-leading Yankees. Toronto is also in position for a wild card.
Teoscar Hernández added a two-run double in the seventh off Albert Abreu.
New York scored its runs without hitting the ball past the infield.
DJ LeMahieu hit an infield single that scored Jose Trevino from second when Berrios bobbled the ball and threw wide of Guerrero at first. Estevan Florial scored the second run on Aaron Judge’s groundout.
Montas (4-10, 3.81ERA) allowed six runs and eight hits in six innings as his wife and other family members attended his home debut. He tied a season high by allowing six runs for the second time in three starts since being acquired from Oakland.
After Toronto took a 2-0 lead on Springer’s two-strike single, Guerrero followed by lifting a 1-0 fastball 362 FT into the first row of the right-field seats for a 5-0 edge, sending some fans home early
Kirk’s double gave Toronto a 6-2 lead in the fifth, before Anthony Bass followed Berrios and fanned Judge with two on. Yusei Kikuchi stranded two in the eighth in his first career relief appearance and Jordan Romano worked the ninth.
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