Marcus Semien homered twice, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 40th homer and the Toronto Blue Jays opened a four-game series against the New York Yankees with an 8-0 victory on Monday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
Toronto (74-62) won its fifth straight and eighth in nine games, thanks to the power display.
The Blue Jays struck for two runs in the first.
Semien extended his career-high by hitting his 36th homer and fourth in five games when he lifted a 1-0 slider from Jameson Taillon (8-6) into the left field seats. Guerrero Jr. extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games with his 40th homer when he lined a full-count curveball into the right field seats.
Guerrero’s homer made him and his father, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., the second father-son duo to hit 40 homers. The other duo was Cecil and Prince Fielder.
Guerrero Sr. reached 40 homers twice and his career best was 44 for the 2000 Montreal Expos when Toronto’s first baseman was 1 year old.
Semien added Toronto’s sixth grand slam of the season in a five-run ninth.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. added an RBI single as Toronto beat the Yankees for the fifth time in seven meetings in New York this season. Teoscar Hernandez added a solo shot in the ninth to become Toronto’s third hitter with 25 homers.
Toronto left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu (13-8) allowed three singles in six effective innings after losing his previous two starts. He struck out six and walked none.
Trevor Richards and Tim Mayza pitched a scoreless inning apiece before Adam Cimber finished off Toronto’s latest win.
The Yankees (78-59) began the day with a half-game lead over Boston for the AL’s first wild card and followed up a pair of one-run losses to the MLB-worst Baltimore Orioles with their third straight loss. New York also is 2-7 in its past nine games since winning 13 straight from Aug. 14-27.
Taillon allowed three runs and three hits in seven innings. He struck out five, walked two and dropped his second start after going 7-0 during a 15-start unbeaten streak.
–Field Level Media