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Judgment Day has been postponed thanks to Mother Nature, a day when Yankees franchise face Aaron Judge was going to usher in his 33rd birthday at the ballpark.
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Instead, the Bronx Bombers and visiting Blue Jays will play a doubleheader Sunday beginning at 1:35 p.m. when the second game of a three-game series originally scheduled for Saturday was postponed due to inclement weather in the forecast.
The series in the Bronx is the first between the two teams this season.
The Jays staged a thrilling ninth-inning rally Friday night to score three runs en route to a 4-2 win, a critical victory given the five-game losing streak the team took into the Big Apple.
The win improved Toronto’s overall record to 13-13, including a 7-4 mark against three of the Jays’ AL East rivals.
The only divisional foe Toronto has yet to face is Tampa.
Judge went 1-for-4 Friday, while drawing one free pass and striking out twice.
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In six career games played on his birthday, Judge has batted .333 with two home runs.
In a way, the Jays catch a break knowing Judge is more than capable of lighting it up on any given day.
Even without the presence of Juan Soto, who left the Bronx for Queens to play for the New York Mets, Judge, the reigning American League MVP, entered Saturday leading MLB hitters with a .408 average, a .508 on-base percentage, a .714 slugging percentage and a 1.222 OPS start. The makeup game is expected to start 30 minutes after Sunday’s originally scheduled game, which is still set to begin at 1:35 p.m. ET.
Kevin Gausman will start for the Jays in Game 1 and Chris Bassitt in Game 2.
One of Toronto’s strengths has been its pitching, especially from its starters.
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Jose Berrios worked around some jams in Friday’s series opener, but he left without yielding a run.
As strange as it may sound, a sweep against the Yankees is possible, which seemed rather improbable considering the five-game losing streak Toronto took into Gotham.
In baseball, momentum is measured by the next day’s starter.
The events of Friday night should provide the visitors with a jolt.
Down to their final three outs, the Jays staged a thrilling three-run ninth, punctuated by Alejandro Kirk’s clutch two-run double that gave Toronto its lead.
Addison Barger knocked in the Jays’ fourth run.
There have been some moments of misery for the Blue Jays this early in the season, beginning right from the start when Toronto was humbled by Baltimore on opening night.
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The recent events have been just as dreary, which included the final two home games against Seattle, leading into the embarrassment in Houston, where the host Astros swept their three-game set.
Toronto couldn’t hit and couldn’t score runs and flew into New York looking out of sorts at the plate.
One swing by Kirk isn’t going to change everything, but it was a welcome change for a catcher whom the Blue Jays extended, a move that caught many by surprise.
He hasn’t hit, but Kirk isn’t alone.
He has been good behind the plate and would throw out two runners attempting to steal second base in Friday’s sixth inning.
When he came through in the clutch in the ninth inning, a collective sigh of relief was palpable.
The baseball calendar hasn’t even flipped to May, but already the Jays were facing their most crucial game of the season.
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“It feels great,’’ Kirk said Friday night via the team’s interpreter. “I needed it and the team needed it.
“I’m very happy, just very happy about it.”
He should be.
Now comes the trick of parlaying that moment into an extended stretch of productivity.
Defence and pitching, save for the occasional blunder on the field or blow-up on the mound, have not been the issue.
The main issue involves the Jays’ offence.
For the second time this season, and first on the road, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went deep.
His penchant for going yard at Yankee Stadium is well documented.
In fact, Vlad Jr. has hit 15 homers at the venue in his first 43 games at the storied site.
Baseball being the numbers-centric sport that it is, will point to the 17 belts Reggie Jackson posted and the 16 dingers by Jay Buhner as the only two to hit more bombs in the Bronx.
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Vlad Jr. joins Albert Belle on the list of 15.
It could be argued that the Jays caught a break facing Devin Williams, who failed to record a single out in the ninth.
Two on, none out and the Yankees clinging to a 2-1 lead, fans began pleading for Luke Weaver to enter the game
“We want Weaver,” the crowd chanted with Williams on the mound.
When Williams was pulled, he had yielded two hits and one hit batter.
A stinging chorus of boos would greet the embattled closer when he made his way to the dugout.
Enter Mark Leiter Jr., who surrendered an RBI single to Addison Barger.
“When you’re playing every day, you can get into a little bit of a rut,” said manager John Schneider. “You can say good arms and yes, we have faced good arms and it kind of gets a little bit contagious, either way.
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“There are some guys that are grinding a little bit and there are guys that are swinging it and it takes a game like (Friday) to hopefully come out of it. Everyone did their part – Vlad with the homer, Kirky with the big knock, Barg chips in, the baserunning was good, pitching was good. Hopefully that gets us on a little bit of a roll.”
For that to happen, the top of the order needs to step up.
Bo Bichette went 1-for-5 from the leadoff spot, but his one and only base knock came in his first at-bat, while Anthony Santander went 0-for-4.
Toronto has scored four or fewer runs in 18 of its first 26 games, which is not sustainable.
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