DJ LeMahieu hit a game-winning single through a five-man infield in the 10th inning to give the New York Yankees a 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday after a rain delay.
Juan Soto hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning, and Gleyber Torres had two hits for the Yankees, who have now won seven of their last eight games. New York stayed tied for first place in the AL East with Baltimore, which won 9-5 at Cleveland.
“That was a really good win,” manager Aaron Boone said. Aaron Judge was intentionally walked three times by the Blue Jays, who chose to walk him with the bases empty in the second inning on Saturday.
“It’s nothing against my pitchers, our pitchers — or nothing against anyone else in their lineup,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “It’s singularly focused around how talented Aaron is and the numbers that he’s put up basically at a historic pace. So, the less times he can swing, the better.”
The last Yankees player to be intentionally walked three times in a game was Bernie Williams against Tampa Bay in September 1999.
“It sucks. You want him at the plate,” Soto said. “To see them pass him over, it makes me mad. I don’t like that. I want them to challenge him and see what he can really do. But it is what it is. It’s part of the game and they are trying to win, too. You respect that.”
Yankees ace Gerrit Cole returned to the mound after missing his scheduled start in Philadelphia last Tuesday due to general body fatigue. He had a tough second inning but managed to pitch into the sixth, retiring 10 of his last 11 batters.
“I thought he got really settled in as he went,” Boone said.
Cole allowed two runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out four and not walking any batters. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner had missed the first 75 games of the season with nerve inflammation and swelling in his right elbow that had kept him out since spring training.
“Certainly I’m in a better spot physically than I was the other day,” Cole said. “It was definitely beneficial to have a few extra days.”
Boone and Yankees hitting coach James Rowson were ejected by plate umpire Tripp Gibson in the seventh inning for arguing about balls and strikes.
This was Boone’s sixth ejection this season, the most in the majors, and the 39th of his managing career. He has led the league in ejections for each of the last four seasons.
“I was going a little bit early at Tripp,” Boone said. “Really didn’t say much other than, `That’s down.’ But he told me four innings ago, ‘That’s enough.’”
Rain delayed the game for 1 hour and 49 minutes in the eighth inning.
In the bottom of the 10th, Trent Grisham moved automatic runner Anthony Volpe to third base with a sacrifice. Toronto moved an outfielder to the infield to try to prevent the Yankees from scoring, but LeMahieu hit a sharp grounder up the middle against Bowden Francis (4-3) to win the game.
“DJ hits a lot of groundballs. Just kind of taking your chances really and trying not to get to Soto or Judge again,” Schneider said. “He hit it on the ground, just found a hole.”
LeMahieu also had a tying sacrifice fly in a two-run sixth inning that erased a 2-0 deficit. He has started to improve his performance lately after struggling at the plate this season following his return from a foot injury.
“I feel like I’m taking some pretty good swings and feeling much better at the plate,” LeMahieu said. Mark Leiter Jr. (3-4) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win.
Soto’s solo home run off the top of the left-center fence gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning. Alejandro Kirk tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled to extend his hitting streak to 17 games but was thrown out trying to steal one batter later. Guerrero is hitting .508 (32 for 63) during the streak with 19 extra-base hits.
Toronto rookie Yariel Rodríguez gave up four hits over 4 2/3 scoreless innings in his 11th major league start.
Kirk and rookie Addison Barger hit consecutive doubles as Toronto sent seven batters to the plate against Cole in the second inning. Barger scored on a two-out single by Ernie Clement, who ended up with three hits.
