After winning a tense pitching duel in 10 innings, the Toronto Blue Jays will go for a split of their four-game series with the visiting New York Yankees Thursday night.
The Blue Jays lost the first two games of the series before they won 3-0 on Wednesday thanks to a three-run homer in the 10th inning by Danny Jansen.
The Blue Jays are scheduled to start right-hander Jose Berrios (3-3, 4.70 ERA) in the finale. He is 3-4 with a 5.14 ERA in nine career starts against the Yankees.
Left-hander Nestor Cortes (3-2, 5.53) gets the start for New York. He is 1-2 with a 3.66 ERA in 10 games (four starts) against Toronto.
The American League East rivals will have trouble matching the duel between Yankees righty Gerrit Cole and Jays righty Chris Bassitt on Wednesday. Bassitt pitched seven scoreless innings and has not allowed a run for a career-best 27 consecutive innings.
It is the second-longest single-season scoreless streak in franchise history. Roger Clemens had 33 straight shutout innings Aug. 15-Sept. 5, 1998. It is the third longest overall. Dave Stieb pitched 34 straight scoreless innings from Sept. 13, 1988 to April 5, 1989.
Bassitt said he was dealing with a sinus infection.
“When my heart rate got up, I had a really bad headache,” Bassitt said. “I basically tried to pitch like a zombie today. I took a ball on purpose and we blew through some mound visits, but that was all in the plan just to get through it.”
Bassitt is 5-1 with an impressive 1.71 ERA in his past eight starts.
“He’s comfortable and confident and he’s executing at a very high level,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.
Cole did not allow a run in six-plus innings, giving up seven hits.
Cole yielded two singles to open the bottom of the seventh, but reliever Clay Holmes bailed him out.
“I’ve got to be better there,” Cole said. “Thankfully, Clay is really, really good at his job. He bailed me out there. We needed to keep the score locked up. He was just fantastic. Honestly (catcher Jose Trevino) was fantastic all night, too. He was able to pick the right pitches and execute all night.”
Blue Jays star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (sore right knee) did not play Wednesday and is listed as day-to-day. Toronto center fielder Kevin Kiermaier (illness) also was out.
With a depleted lineup, Jansen — usually a catcher — was the designated hitter.
“When he’s doing his thing, he’s got damage potential, he’s got great bat-to-ball skills and he’s on base a lot,” Schneider said. “He’s shown that over the course of the last couple years and it’s huge for our lineup.”
–Field Level Media
