For the second straight game, the Toronto Blue Jays got a whale of a performance from a member of their beleaguered starting pitching staff.
And for the second straight outing, the Blue Jays got harpooned.
In an offensively challenged marathon Wednesday night at Rogers Centre that dragged on into the 13th inning, the Yankee muscle would finally surface for three runs in a 3-0 New York victory.
It was a usual suspect in Aaron Judge who got things going for the Yankees, tattooing a 1-2 pitch from Toronto reliever Joe Biagini that flew into the seats in deep left-centre, a two-run home run that would provide New York with a 2-0 lead.
For Judge, it was his 17th home run of the season
Giancarlo Stanton would then add a bit of insurance when he hammered a solo line-drive home run off Biagini, his 14th, over the left-field wall.
Toronto starter Sam Gaviglio did his part, blanking a tough New York lineup that only had three hits to its credit through seven innings of work in a runless baseball game.
“He was really, really good,” Toronto manager John Gibbons said of Gaviglio, whose seven innings of work represented a career high. “Really both pitching staffs.”
In Tuesday’s 7-2 loss to New York, Toronto starter Marco Estrada handed over a 1-0 lead to the bullpen with a runner on in the seventh inning before things turned topsy-turvy for the home side.
New York starter Sonny Gray was even better than Gaviglio on Wednesday, flirting with perfection through the first four innings, sitting down all 12 batters he faced, five by strikeout.
Gray ended up throwing eight innings of two-hit ball while striking out eight as the Blue Jays could manage just four hits total in the game.
With the win, the Yankees (40-18) earned a two-game sweep in the mini-series over the faltering Blue Jays (26-35), who have now dropped seven of their past eight.
The loss in extra innings was the first for the Blue Jays in six games this season and the 13-inning affair was their longest of the year.