The Yankees’ first win Sunday was all about persistence.
Their second win was a mixture of pitching and energy.
The Yankees (17-11) flexed their versatility in a doubleheader sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays (13-15) within the Bronx, giving them a collection victory over their American League East rival.
“It’s not an easy thing to do,” supervisor Aaron Boone stated of sweeping the doubleheader, which adopted Saturday’s rainout.
“To do it against a division rival, to get two strong starting performances and then [have] the bullpen do their thing and get some big swings along the way … [it was] a great way to finish off a series.”
The Yankees gained the primary recreation, 11-2, on the energy of a six-run third inning during which they drew 5 walks in opposition to Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman.
Gausman labored by 53 pitches throughout that high-stress inning and issued three consecutive walks with two outs.
The ultimate two walks — to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe — got here with the bases loaded, forcing in a pair of runs that gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead.
Austin Wells then broke the sport open with a three-run double on Gausman’s final pitch of the inning — and the ninth of that at-bat — to place the Yankees up 6-1.
“It’s just the momentum and the confidence,” Wells stated. “Guys are taking close pitches, taking really good swings. Whether they’re just missing or not, it still gives you confidence.”
Wells fouled off 4 two-strike pitches earlier than he lined a 3-2 fastball off the wall in right-center. His at-bat was one in every of six within the inning to final at the least six pitches.
“Just a number of really, really good, disciplined at-bats,” Boone stated. “If you start chasing Gausman at all with the [splitter] and stuff, he’s too good. You’ve got to be disciplined, and that inning was phenomenal.”
Gausman exited after Wells’ double, then punctuated his disastrous day by shouting at home-plate umpire Chris Conroy from the dugout, resulting in his ejection. The Yankees added a sixth stroll within the inning when reliever Paxton Schultz issued one to Jasson Domínguez.
Volpe tacked on one other run within the fifth when he struck an opposite-field solo shot in opposition to Schultz.
The homer — Volpe’s fifth of the season and first since April 2 — got here on a excessive fastball, a pitch that gave him hassle in current collection in opposition to the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians.
That was greater than sufficient help for Yankees ace Max Fried, who held Toronto to 1 run on six hits in six innings.
Fried shook off some early command points — which contributed to 4 hits, two walks and a run by two innings — to retire his last 9 batters.
“You’re not going to feel your best every time that you take the ball,” Fried stated. “The most important thing for me is to be able to give us a chance to win. Keeping it close, knowing that these guys are grinding and that they’re a really good lineup, and at any time, they can put up five or six runs in an inning.”
Fried improved to 5-0 with 1.43 ERA and has gained every of his final 5 begins.
SCHMIDT STARS
The Yankees acquired one other sturdy begin in Sunday’s nightcap.
Clarke Schmidt delivered his greatest efficiency of the younger season within the Yankees’ 5-1 win, limiting Toronto to 1 run on one hit over 5 innings.
Schmidt leaned on his cutter, sweeper and knuckle curve to strike out six and elicit a season-best 14 swings and misses. He labored round 4 walks over a season-high 90 pitches to gather a no-decision.
It was a constructive step for Schmidt, who missed the primary three weeks of the season with proper rotator cuff tendinitis and entered Sunday with a 7.45 ERA by two begins.
“That’s big,” Schmidt stated. “Continuing to push the envelope as far as pitch count goes and going deeper in games, I think that’s the next thing. Just feeling sharper, starting to feel healthier and healthier every time I go out there. The [velocity] was up and the stuff was playing a tick up, and I’m starting to get the movement profiles that I want back.”
The Yankees noticed Schmidt a first-inning lead when Trent Grisham struck a leadoff house run in opposition to Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt. The solo shot was Grisham’s seventh homer of the yr, briefly tying him with Aaron Decide and Chisholm for the crew lead.
Toronto tied the sport, 1-1, within the third when Anthony Santander clubbed a solo house run on a sinker that Schmidt left up the zone.
However Decide broke the tie — and reclaimed the crew lead in homers — within the sixth inning when he lined a solo blast in opposition to Bassitt. Decide, who turned 33 on Saturday, went 2-for-8 with a stroll in Sunday’s doubleheader and leads MLB hitters with a .406 common.
The Yankees scored two extra runs within the sixth inning on Domínguez’s RBI double and J.C. Escarra‘s run-scoring single.
Escarra capped the scoring with a solo house run within the ninth — the primary homer of the rookie catcher’s profession.
The Yankees obtained 4 shutout innings from their bullpen, with Tim Hill, Mark Leiter Jr., Fernando Cruz and Luke Weaver every firing one body apiece.
It had been a save state of affairs when Weaver started warming up.
Earlier than Sunday’s video games, Boone introduced he was eradicating Devin Williams from the nearer position because the right-hander works by his early-season struggles. Williams blew a save in Friday’s 4-2 loss to Toronto and fell to 0-2 with an 11.25 ERA.
Subsequent up for the Yankees is a three-game collection in Baltimore, the place they’re set to face the last-place Orioles. Baltimore completed second within the division after a back-and-forth battle with the Yankees final season however are off to a shocking 10-17 begin this yr.
Will Warren (1-0, 4.79 ERA) is scheduled to start out Monday evening’s collection opener for the Yankees, whereas Tomoyuki Sugano (2-1, 3.54) is about to pitch for Baltimore.
Initially Printed: April 27, 2025 at 4:55 PM EDT
