Sloppy defense dooms the Yankees as the Blue Jays take the series

Toronto—The Yankees' sloppy defense cost them in a big way, falling to the Blue Jays 8-4 to lose the series.  Max Fried got the starting nod for the Yankees and faced off against Chris Bassitt. 

In the top of the first inning, Trent Grisham, Cody Bellinger, and Aaron Judge went down in order for the Yankees. 

Fried retired the Jays in order in the bottom of the first inning and picked up his first strikeout of the ballgame in the process. 

Jasson Domguiez, who was 0-for-his-last-18, broke that slide with a solo home run with two outs in the top of the second inning to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. 

In the bottom of the third inning, Fried worked a 1-2-3 inning as he had retired the first nine batters of the game in order. 

Judge, Ben Rice, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. went down in order in the top of the fourth inning for the Yankees. 

The Jays tied things up at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning via a RBI double from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Ernie Clement then gave the Jays the lead via a RBI single to give the Jays a 2-1 lead. 

The Yankees quickly responded in the top of the fifth inning thanks to Anthony Volpe's 13th home run of the season to even things up at 2-2. 

Fried walked back-to-back hitters with one out in the bottom of the fifth, which came back to bite him. Vladdy chopped one back to Fried, and he tried to go home with it to cut down the run, but catcher JC Escara couldn't handle the throw, and it got past him, allowing two runs to score, giving the Jays a 4-2 lead. 

"Went for it, thought I might have been a little bit closer to the plate," Fried said on the play at the plate. "It was running across the line. And if I keep going, you know, I'm going to throw it at him. So I just tried to throw around him and, you know, it was a tough angle and just, just not a good throw." 

Grisham reached second base to lead off the top of the sixth inning due to an E3 from Vladdy. A couple of batters later, Judge crushed his 37th home run of the season to tie the game up at 4-4. It was home run number 352 of Judge's career to pass Alex Rodriguez on the Yankees' all-time home run list, moving him to sixth behind a couple of guys named Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, and Babe Ruth. 

looked like the Yankees had an easy second out of the inning, but unfortunately, Belli lost the ball in the sky, allowing Ernie Clemett to reach third base with one out. That came back to bite the Yankees as the next batter, Myles Straw, gave the Jays a 5-4 lead via an RBI double.  Jonathan Loáisiga took over for Fried on the mound, and it looked like the Yankees were out of the inning, but Rice bobbled a ball at first base for the Yankees' third error of the game, allowing another run to score, making it a 6-4 game. 

Max Fried's final line: 5.1 innings pitched, six hits allowed, six runs, four earned runs due to the errors, three walks, six swings and misses, and three strikeouts on 102 pitches. Fried threw his cutter 47% of the time, the sinker 20%, the fastball 13%, the curveball 12%, the changeup 5%, and the sweeper 4% of the time. Fried didn't have his best stuff; it looked like he was still struggling with that blister on his pinky, but the defense did not do him any favors. 

"You know, it's coming in, first start off the break for me," Fried said. "I just wanted to make sure it put us in a good position, you know, let the lead up early and, you know, frankly just didn't do my job tonight." 

In the top of the seventh inning, Volpe struck out looking, on a terrible call way above the zone, leading to Yankees manager Aaron Boone and pitching coach Matt Blake both being ejected from the game. 

"Yeah, I mean, a couple of calls not going our way," Boone said. "But that wasn't our issue tonight; we gave them too many outs." 

Effross took over for Loáisiga in the bottom of the seventh and gave up a single to Vladdy. However, Vladdy moved up to second base on an error from Dominguez, the Yankees' fourth error of the game, as the Yankees' pathetic display of defense continues. 

Grisham and Belli picked up back-to-back one-out singles in the top of the eighth inning. However, Judge bounced into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. 

JT Brubaker replaced Effross in the bottom of the eighth and worked a scoreless inning. 

The Yankees went down in order in the top of the ninth inning to lose an embarrassing one, 8-4, to lose the series and fall four games behind the Jays in the AL East. 

The Yankees will head back to the Bronx for an off-day tomorrow before starting a three-game series against the Phillies. Will Warren will get the starting nod for the Yankees, facing off against Taijuan Walker. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: It was a frustrating game tonight as the Yankees, who once had a seven-game lead in the division, are now four games back. Fried didn't have his best stuff, it also looked like the blister was still bothering him at the end. The defense didn't do him any favors with four errors. Volpe, Dominguez, and Judge all launched home runs, but that was about the only positive from tonight's game. The Yankees need to make some trades ASAP because this team looks flat-out lost right now. Thankfully, there's an off day tomorrow because you can't lose if you don't play. 

"I cut the top of my pinky, that happens, that's nothing to worry about," Fried said. "I'm completely fine with the blister."