"Just as in the Wild Card Series, the Yankees' opponent needed to win Game 1 more than the Yankees did. In the last series, Boston won Game 1 behind ace Garrett Crochet but lost the series in three because the Yankees had the better starting pitchers going in the later games. The same could be said to be true in the ALDS. Toronto won behind its ace, Kevin Gausman, but has rookie Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber and probably a bullpen game for the next three."
"Luis Gil gave up solo homers to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first and Alejandro Kirk in the second but seemed to find his way - and his secondary stuff - in a nine-pitch at-bat against Anthony Santander for the first out of the second that ended with a strikeout on 3-and-2. From there, Gil retired the next four batters before allowing a single to Guerrero."
"Basically, Boone decided Gil was a starter in name only. It was going to be a bullpen game. The problem is when you use a bunch of relievers, there's an increased chance that you're going to find the one who doesn't have it that day. In this case, with the Yankees trailing 2-1 in the seventh inning, Boone found two relievers who didn't have it in Luke Weaver and Fernando Cruz."
The Blue Jays secured Game 1 behind ace Kevin Gausman, reflecting greater urgency to win the opener than the Yankees. Toronto’s rotation depth includes a rookie and likely bullpen usage for upcoming games, while the Yankees retain strong starters on paper, suggesting they can overcome an opener loss. Luis Gil surrendered early solo homers but settled in and retired multiple batters before Aaron Boone turned the game into a bullpen approach. The bullpen produced scoreless innings from some arms but later exposed weaknesses when two relievers, Luke Weaver and Fernando Cruz, failed to contain the Blue Jays.
Read at Newsday
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]