The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-6 on Monday night in New York, erasing deficits of 3-1 in the fourth inning and 5-3 in the seventh before holding on in the ninth. Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. each hit two-run homers off Yariel Rodríguez in the seventh, turning a one-run hole into a lead the Yankees would not give back.
Paul Goldschmidt also drove in two runs, and he opened the game by homering on Patrick Corbin’s first pitch. David Bednar allowed a run in the ninth, then stranded two runners by striking out George Springer and getting Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a groundout to finish his 11th save in 13 chances. Ernie Clement drove in four runs for Toronto, including a three-run homer, and Springer added his first home run since March 30.
The finish mattered because it stopped a bad run of close losses for New York. The Yankees improved to 4-10 in one-run games, a record that has defined much of their start and made every late lead feel fragile. Monday also opened a homestand against AL East rivals after the club went 2-7 on the road, so the crowd saw a game that had the look of a rebound and the feel of a test.
Paul Blackburn gave New York 1 2/3 innings of one-hit relief, helping keep the game within reach before the late surge. Toronto got a glimpse of the future, too: Adam Macko made his major league debut and retired three straight batters. Yankees catcher Austin Wells sat out the starting lineup for the second straight day, a reminder that the lineup is still being managed game by game as the club searches for steadier production.
Wells’ numbers have been hard to ignore. He is hitting 2 for 23, a.087 clip, with 11 strikeouts, and he summed up the slump in blunt terms, calling it “terrible” and saying, “You can read the numbers, so it’s not good.” The Yankees need more than one comeback to straighten that out, but Monday night at least gave them a cleaner answer than the trip they just finished.
These two teams were meeting for the first time since New York lost last year’s AL Division Series, which made the game feel heavier than a routine early-season date. The rematch continues Tuesday night, with Will Warren and Dylan Cease scheduled to start.
