Alek Manoah pitched six innings of one-hit ball and George Springer homered and drove in three runs as the Toronto Blue Jays recorded a 3-0 victory over the New York Yankees in the opener of a four-game series Monday night at Yankee Stadium.
Springer collected three hits and hit a two-run homer off Jameson Taillon (0-1) before getting an RBI double in the seventh as the Blue Jays won for the fifth straight time in New York.
Manoah (1-0), who made his major league debut in New York on May 27, 2021, allowed only a single to Joey Gallo in the second. He struck out seven, withstood four walks and threw 52 of 89 pitches for strikes for his 10th career win and second against the Yankees.
Santiago Espinal and Teoscar Hernandez collected three hits apiece and also made key defensive plays in the seventh.
Taillon produced the longest outing by a New York starter in the early going, allowing two runs on five hits in five innings. In his first start since offseason ankle surgery, Taillon struck out six and walked none.
Toronto went ahead in the third when Springer hammered an 0-1 slider down the left field line after Espinal singled. As he rounded the bases, Springer pointed towards fans in the left field seats who were heckling him for being part of the 2017 Houston Astros.
After Springer’s homer, Manoah encountered his most significant trouble before getting help from his infield defense.
Manoah walked Marwin Gonzalez with two outs and loaded the bases by also walking Anthony Rizzo and Aaron Judge.
Manoah then ended the third by retiring Stanton on a groundout to shortstop Bo Bichette. Bichette ranged to his left, fielded the ball on his backhand and made an off-balance throw to first baseman Vladimir Guerrero, who made a clean scoop of the throw.
Manoah ended his outing by retiring the final nine hitters, including a called strike three on Aaron Judge for the first out of the sixth inning.
Trevor Richards put two on before Hernandez made a diving catch on Kyle Higashioka’s sinking liner to right. Adam Cimber finished the seventh by getting pinch hitter Josh Donaldson to hit into a 5-6-3 double play and also pitched a scoreless eighth.
Jordan Romano tossed a scoreless ninth for his third save. He converted his 26th straight save dating back to last season, breaking Tom Henke’s 1991 team record.
-Field Level Media