In a historic start to the season, the Yankees got a dose of reality on Sunday.
After taking a five-run lead by the end of round six in what looked like they might be aiming for their 10th straight win, the Yankees’ bullpen imploded as the Blue Jays went 10-9 again at Rogers Center won.
The loss was only the second in the Yankees’ last 18 games.
And it came out of nowhere. Miguel Castro and Wandy Peralta provided huge, game-changing homers while the Yankees struggled with a lack of reliable bullpen weapons like Chad Green and Jonathan Loaisiga and the ups and downs of Aroldis Chapman.
Even after Toronto hit eight straight runs to take the lead, the Yankees hit an Anthony Rizzo home run in the eighth and then had runners in second and third place when Rizzo defeated Jordan Romano to end the game.
That’s exactly what the Blue Jays did on Sunday.
The Yankees took the lead in the third on a two-run shot by Josh Donaldson, and Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres both had run-scoring doubles in the fifth.
Back-to-back home runs by a slugger Kyle Higashioka and Marwin Gonzalez made it 8-3 in the top of the sixth, and despite Luis Severino’s struggles, the Yankees appeared to be in command.
However, in the bottom of the inning, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled and Alejandro Kirk walked, effectively ending Luis Severino’s outing.
Castro came in and struck out Santiago Espinal and Teoscar Hernandez before walking Matt Chapman to load the bases.
Following a pitching coach’s visit, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. gave the Blue Jays new life with a grand slam, cutting the Yankees’ lead to one run.
Raimel Tapia followed with a double, and Wandy Peralta came in to pinch hit for Springer. Peralta, like Castro, faltered.
Peralta walked Kirk with one out in the seventh, drawing another visit from Blake, and the Blue Jays responded with another home run, as Hernandez hit one out to center.
The three-run homer made it 10-8 to complete the unlikely comeback.
Rizzo, who hit an out for Higashioka in eighth, hit a solo homer by Tim Mayza who made the left 10-9.
José Treviño then pinch hit for Joey Gallo and left.
Romano hit DJ LeMahieu for the second out and the right-hander hit Aaron Judge with a 98 mph fastball to end the inning.
Giancarlo Stanton went with an out in ninth place and after Gleyber Torres busted Aaron Hicks singled and sent Stanton into third place.
With Rizzo at the plate, Hicks stole second before Rizzo fought his way back from 0-2 to get the full score before rolling into second to finish it off.
The Yankees were going for their ninth straight win of the year and their best 66-game start in franchise history.
Instead, their MLB best fell to 49-17 and their American League East lead shrank to 11 games over Toronto as the Yankees prepare for another series against the Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla.
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