Bad call, bullpen push Yankees to distasteful ALDS defeat in Toronto
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Follow UsTORONTO — Saturday was a complete breakdown for the New York Yankees. A missed call. A failed bullpen. A wasted opportunity with the bases loaded.
What began with an umpiring controversy on pitch one spiraled into a bullpen disaster that turned a competitive game into an embarrassing rout. The Blue Jays capitalized, cruising to a 10-1 victory at Rogers Centre before a sellout crowd of 44,655 on a warm 77-degree afternoon.
The loss exposed the Yankees’ most glaring flaws. A single umpiring mistake set the tone, but it was the bullpen collapse that turned a competitive contest into a rout.
Umpire misses obvious foul ball on first pitch
Trent Grisham led off the game against Kevin Gausman. He tapped a weak grounder that clearly struck his right foot before rolling into fair territory.
Home plate umpire Chris Segal missed the contact. First base umpire Adam Hamari ruled fair, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stepped on the bag for an easy out.
Replays showed the ball had clipped Grisham’s toe while his foot was outside the line. The sound of contact was clear. Grisham stayed in the box and protested, joined quickly by manager Aaron Boone, but the play stood.
MLB rules do not allow review of whether a ball hits a batter’s foot. The Yankees were left without recourse despite video evidence.
“Use your eyes,” frustrated fans repeated as they watched replays that showed the call blown.
The call gave Gausman a quick first out. Judge followed with a single, but the right-hander needed only 13 pitches to finish the inning. In hindsight, the error was just the beginning. The Yankees’ bullpen failures proved far more damaging.
Relief corps crumbles under pressure
Luis Gil started for New York but lasted only 2 2/3 innings. He gave up home runs to Guerrero in the first and Alejandro Kirk in the second before Boone made the early move.
“Definitely not the outing we wanted,” Gil said through an interpreter.
The Yankees needed their bullpen to steady the game. For two innings, it worked. Tim Hill entered in the third with two runners on and forced a groundout to end the threat. He returned in the fourth and worked a clean frame on just 13 pitches, showing his value against Toronto’s left-handed bats.
Camilo Doval followed with two sharp innings, retiring six hitters on 20 pitches. The hard-throwing righty, who had struggled since joining New York, looked composed.
“That was really efficient, really good,” Boone said, noting that Doval might be available for Game 2.
Through six innings, New York trailed only 2-1. The bullpen then imploded.
Weaver’s postseason struggles continue
Luke Weaver took the ball in the seventh. He faced three batters and recorded no outs. He walked one and gave up two singles, including an RBI knock by Andres Gimenez that pushed Toronto’s lead to 3-1. Boone immediately pulled him.
Weaver has now faced six hitters this postseason without retiring one. Once a reliable late-inning arm, he has unraveled when the games matter most.
“I don’t really feel like myself,” Weaver admitted. “I don’t feel like my mind is completely clear to go out there and attack. I do feel physically strong, I do feel mentally strong overall. I just think there are some factors that are building and I’m just not executing at the clip I want to.”
Weaver suggested that hitters may be picking up on his delivery, an issue that could explain his collapse.
Fernando Cruz entered and compounded the damage. He allowed a two-run double to Nathan Lukes and a sacrifice fly to Guerrero. Suddenly, Toronto led 6-1.
Blackburn buries Yankees hopes
Paul Blackburn came in for the eighth, but his outing turned a bad night into a humiliation.
Kirk belted his second home run of the game. Gimenez doubled in a run. Ernie Clement added a sacrifice fly. Lukes chipped in with another RBI single.
By the end of the inning, four more runs had crossed the plate. The Blue Jays led 10-1. Blackburn gave up six hits and four runs over two innings, erasing any hope of a late rally.
The decision to keep Blackburn on the roster over Mark Leiter Jr. now looks questionable. Whatever confidence he earned in the regular season vanished in one inning. Weaver also looks broken despite claims of resolution of pitch-tipping problem.
In total, five Yankees relievers combined to give up eight runs on 10 hits across 5 1/3 innings after Gil’s exit. Only Hill and Doval kept Toronto quiet.
Two fatal flaws exposed
The Yankees’ loss highlighted two glaring issues that could haunt them for the rest of October.
First, the officiating. Segal’s blown call on the first pitch underscored the flaws in MLB’s replay system. The technology exists to fix such mistakes, but the rules forbid review of a ball striking a batter’s foot.
Second, the bullpen. Weaver’s collapse was the most alarming development. If hitters are reading his pitches, the Yankees face a serious tactical problem. Cruz and Blackburn offered no solutions. Only Hill and Doval provided stability.
“We’re going to keep the same mindset we’ve had all year,” Judge said. “This game’s over with, it got out of hand, couldn’t come back, but we’ve got a big game coming up tomorrow and just take care of business.”
The Yankees are now 1-7 at Rogers Centre this season. They rallied from a Game 1 loss against Boston to win the Wild Card Series, but this hole looks deeper.
Max Fried will take the mound Sunday against Toronto rookie Trey Yesavage. The Yankees will need Fried’s best and hope their bullpen finds answers.
One bad call might be overlooked. A bullpen collapse in October is not.
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