TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays will have two advantages going into the opener of their best-of-five American League Division Series against the New York Yankees on Saturday.
They will have home-park advantage with a loud crowd behind them, and they will also have an edge in rest.
The Blue Jays have not played since Sunday when they clinched first in the AL East on the final day of the regular season. The Blue Jays and Yankees both finished with 94-68 records, but Toronto had the tiebreaker after winning the season series 8-5.
While the Blue Jays enjoyed the bye by playing two intrasquad games, the Yankees completed a three-game wild-card series against the Boston Red Sox Thursday night with a 4-0 victory in the decisive game behind the brilliant eight-inning pitching of Cam Schlittler.
The Yankees realize the challenge of playing the Blue Jays, who were 54-27 at home. They lost six of seven in Toronto in the regular season.
“They’re a complete team,” said Aaron Judge, who has 41 career home runs and a .300 batting average against Toronto. “They don’t strike out a lot, so they’re going to put the ball in play and force your hand on defense.”
Toronto will be hoping that outfielder George Springer can continue his success against the Yankees after going .348/.464/.652 with four home runs and 12 RBIs over 13 games against them this season.
The Blue Jays will be trying to win a playoff game for the first time since 2016. In their past three appearances — 2020, 2022 and 2023 — they have gone 0-for-6 at the wild-card stage. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. exemplified those struggles hitting .136/.240/.182 with no homers and one RBI over those six games. He also was picked off second base in a key situation in 2023.
“I feel pretty good mentally, physically, but the most important thing for me is winning,” Guerrero said on Friday. “We’ve got to find a way to win.”
A question mark hovers over Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette, who has been out with a sprained knee incurred while sliding on Sept. 6, when he was out at home. It seemed unlikely he would be on the ALDS roster by the way manager John Schneider talked on Friday.
“He would have to play pretty regularly,” Schneider said. “We don’t want to deviate too much from what we have been doing. So, it’s not saving him for a Kirk Gibson at-bat once-a-game that may not come.”
Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger was limping running to first late in the game on Thursday. Manager Aaron Boone said that he had bruised his heel scoring in the fourth inning.
“He should be good to go,” Boone said.
Toronto is scheduled to start Kevin Gausman (10-11, 3.59) in the opener. He is 12-10 with a 3.67 ERA in 39 career games (33 starts) against the Yankees. This season, he is 2-1 (3.97 ERA) in four starts.
Boone has tabbed Luis Gil (4-1, 3.32) to start. He is 1-1 with a 4.34 ERA in four career starts against the Blue Jays, including 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in one start this season.
It was undecided whether it would be Gil or Will Warren before Boone’s announcement on Friday evening.
“We feel like he’s ready for this and he’s in line,” Boone said. “He’s been very effective. It’s not always pretty, but he’s not afraid out there.”
–Larry Millson, Field Level Media
