Gary Sanchez showed he means business going 2-for-3 with a 2-run home run and throwing out Grichuk at second late in the game.
Romano (1-0) took the win for the Blue Jays and Nelson (0-1) took the loss for the Yankees.
Cole has a Strong Debut but Earns No Decision
Gerrit Cole came out strong on Thursday, throwing 5.1 innings, giving up five hits, two earned runs, two walks, and one home run. He struck out eight over 97 pitches thrown. Besides the home run to Hernandez in the sixth, Cole looked sharp and got a lot of swings and misses, especially on the slider. The slider was also the ball that he left hanging to Hernandez. “I just want that slider back,” stated Cole.
That was one the only mistakes Cole made in his opening day start, however, as he struck out eight and looked sharp overall after starting slow.
Through today’s start, Cole has now recorded at least seven strikeouts in each of his last 10 regular season starts. He has also struck out over 100 as a member of the New York Yankees organization.
Yankees Offense Gets Hits, But Can’t Produce
The Yankees’ offense accumulated six hits against a tough Toronto Blue Jays lineup, but left 22 runners on throughout the game and struck out 13 times.
Gary Sanchez, as mentioned above, looked strong in his opening day appearance. He went 2-for-3 with a 2-run home run.
Clint Frazier was also 2-for-3 with a walk.
Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres each had a hit as well.
Yankees Bullpen Closes Out Game with 0 Earned Runs
The Yankees bullpen showed that they put in the work this offseason. Chad Green threw 1.2 scoreless innings giving up just one hit, Jonathan Loaisiga threw a hitless inning and struck out one, Darren O’Day gave up one hit and struck out one in his inning of work, and Nick Nelson closed it out for the Yankees giving up one hit, one run (no earned runs as per the runner on second rule), and struck out three.
It was a good day for the Yankees bullpen, but Nelson took the loss in the hands of MLB’s runner-on-second rule.
On Deck:
Friday is an off-day for the Yankees. They continue their series against the Blue Jays on Saturday at Yankee Stadium at 1:05 PM. It will be Corey Kluber vs Ross Stripling.
Baseball is back. The regular season has begun, and though it has started shaky, the Yankees’ chase for 28 has begun.
