Yankees pull out 4-3 win over Blue Jays to narrow AL East gap
Max Fried settles after early trouble, Ben Rice’s three-run homer and late relief from Devin Williams and David Bednar secure series in Bronx
The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 Sunday at Yankee Stadium to complete a three-game series split and move closer to the top of the American League East.
Ben Rice provided the big blow, a three-run homer in the first inning off Toronto starter Max Scherzer, and Max Fried recovered from a rocky start to deliver seven effective innings. Devin Williams worked a scoreless eighth against Toronto’s middle of the order and David Bednar closed for the second straight game to preserve the one-run victory.
Rice’s three-run shot came after a 10-pitch at-bat and followed an Aaron Judge walk and a Cody Bellinger single that started the rally. The Yankees added another run in the third on Bellinger’s booming RBI double to right-center, giving New York all the offense it would need.
Fried struggled in the second and third innings, issuing a walk to Alejandro Kirk and allowing a double to Ernie Clement that chased a run across. With Toronto threatening in the third — runners at second and third with one out — Fried coaxed a number of important outs, getting Kirk to bounce to Rice at first, inducing a soft liner from Clement that Anthony Volpe saved with a diving grab, and finishing the sequence when Ty France grounded to third to limit the damage and keep the game tied at 3.
Defensive miscues complicated New York’s early innings. Volpe was charged with an error in the third after a bounced throw on a routine grounder while filling in at short, his 19th of the season. Aaron Judge’s throws showed diminished velocity at times as he deals with a right-elbow flexor strain; one throw in the second inning lacked his usual zip and another sequence in the same inning featured Judge throwing to right field rather than home on a fly ball, allowing Toronto to pull within a run.
After settling, Fried retired batters through the middle innings and departed after seven, having limited Toronto to three runs. Williams, who has had an uneven season, retired the heart of the Blue Jays’ order in the eighth. He survived a leadoff single by pinch-hitter Addison Barger, struck out Vladimir Guerrero Jr., induced a groundout from Kirk and, after a walk to Clement, got France to ground to third.
David Bednar took the ninth and yielded a one-out single to Nathan Lukes, but Lukes was thrown out attempting to steal second by catcher Austin Wells, extinguishing Toronto’s final rally and preserving the one-run lead.
The victory improved the Yankees to 17 games over .500, matching their season high, and marked their 11th win in 14 games since a three-game sweep at the hands of Boston last month. The Yankees are as close to first place in the AL East as they have been since July 3, shortly after Toronto wrested the division lead earlier in the season.
Aaron Judge saved a potential run in the fourth with a diving catch for the final out, underscoring his continued defensive value despite the throwing issues. Rice, filling in at first base, made several defensive plays after his early offensive heroics.
New York will look to sustain the recent surge as the regular season winds toward its final month, while Toronto will regroup after dropping the series in the Bronx. The outcome tightened the race in the AL East, with both clubs jockeying for position in the stretch run.