Yankees lose to Blue Jays despite solid start by Gerrit Cole
New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole reacts after Toronto Blue Jays' Andrés Giménez hit a double during the second inning on Friday. Credit: AP/Chris Young
TORONTO — Alejandro Kirk homered and hit a tiebreaking double and Shane Bieber allowed one run in six innings as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Yankees, 3-1, on Friday night.
Kirk broke a 1-1 tie with a two-out double off Gerrit Cole in the sixth, then added some insurance with a two-out homer off Bradley Hanner in the eighth.
Cole (6-6) allowed two runs (one earned), five hits and two walks in six innings, striking out five.
With Nathan Lukes at second, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first and the Yankees leading 1-0 in the sixth on Trent Grisham's 16th homer, George Springer hit a grounder to third baseman Ryan McMahon, who stepped on the bag to force out Lukes. McMahon threw to first in a bid to retire Springer for an inning-ending double play, but Luis Garcia Jr. couldn’t scoop the throw, losing his glove in the process.
Guerrero broke for third on McMahon's throwing error, and Garcia threw toward George Lombard Jr., who was trying to get to the bag. When Lombard tried to leap over the sliding Guerrero, his left thigh struck Guerrero’s head, but he was able to get up and score the tying run on Garcia's throwing error. Kirk then doubled on Cole's next pitch to make it 2-1.
Guerrero’s helmet was dislodged, and he looked dazed after crossing the plate. He then left the game.
The Yankees remained 6 1/2 games behind the AL East-leading Rays and three games ahead of the third-place Red Sox.
In the past 16 games, the Yankees have gotten one poor start from Cam Schlittler and two mediocre starts from Will Warren. In the other 13 games, their starting pitchers have recorded a 1.01 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP, but the Yankees have gone only 7-6 in those games because of their lack of offense.
The Yankees are 14-12 since the All-Star break. They have scored one or fewer runs seven times (1-6), two or fewer runs 14 times (6-8) and three or fewer runs 18 times (9-9) in those 26 games.
Bieber (4-2) allowed one run on four hits. He’s 4-1 with a 3.48 ERA in his past six outings. Tyler Rogers got four outs and Mason Fluharty retired both batters he faced. Louis Varland finished for his 27th save in 28 chances.
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