Toronto Blue Jays vs Ny Yankees Yankees Picks and Predictions June 29th 2024

Yankees Hope Bats Continue to Come Alive vs. Blue Jays

The New York Yankees, who had lost four consecutive games, ended their streak by putting up their top offensive performance of the season against the Toronto Blue Jays, and they aim to carry this momentum into Saturday afternoon.

Recent performance

New York Yankees.

The Yankees recorded 18 hits in a 16-5 victory over Toronto on Friday night, tying the series at one game each following the initial two games. The Yankees had not scored as many runs since they had a 16-run game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 6, 2022.

Juan Soto hit his twentieth homer of the season for the Yankees, however, second baseman Gleyber Torres had a more remarkable performance with a two-run homer, two hits, and three RBIs. Torres, who hit his eighth home run of the season, missed the last two games because he faced difficulties in both attacking and defending. He only achieved two hits in his last nine games, out of a total of 29 at-bats.

“After the game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone expressed hope that it would be a small building block for him.”

Boone showed trust in Torres before the game, stating, “We are all aware of Torres’ abilities, he is aware of his own capabilities.” That doesn’t imply you should immediately achieve a result by going out. In that aspect, the game is too unpredictable. Hopefully, in a positive state both physically and mentally to make a meaningful contribution towards winning in baseball.

Another positive development was when DJ LeMahieu recorded his first extra-base hit of the season, which happened to be an RBI double.

Pitching Matchup

• Nestor Cortes (4-6, 3.40 ERA): Cortes is scheduled to start for the Yankees on Saturday. He is 2-2 with a 3.55 ERA in 11 career games (five starts) against Toronto.

Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto’s Isiah Kiner-Falefa had a single and a solo homer to extend his hit streak to 12 games. During the streak, he is 17-for-43 (.395) with three home runs and six RBIs and has been hit by pitches five times.

Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was 2-for-5 with a solo homer and two RBIs on Friday. His 12th homer of the season was his fifth in his past seven games. He has multiple RBIs in five straight games, matching Frank Catalanotto (2005) and Eric Hinske (2005) for the longest such streak in franchise history. He has 13 RBIs in his past five games.

George Springer drove in two runs on Friday and now has a total of eight RBIs for the series. He got his second RBI on Friday by getting hit by a pitch on the hand with the bases loaded. He exited the game during the seventh inning due to a contusion on his left hand.

Pitching Matchup

• Chris Bassitt (6-6, 3.45 ERA): The Blue Jays are scheduled to start Bassitt, who is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in one start against the Yankees this season. He is 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA in four career starts against them.

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Bullpen Concerns

Toronto’s bullpen is suffering with Jordan Romano and Yimi Garcia out with elbow issues. After allowing 12 runs (10 earned) Friday, the Blue Jays’ bullpen ranks 28th in the majors with a 4.78 ERA.

“You need everyone, really, and in isolation, tonight wasn’t ideal,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “Just rewinding it a little bit, Yusei (Kikuchi) pitched too well to have that game end where it did. I think that before the sixth inning, there were spots where we could have added on runs or played a bit cleaner. I just hate to waste an outing like that.”

Conclusion

The Yankees will aim to keep up their offensive revival and capitalize on their strong showing from Friday night. They are counting on Nestor Cortes to help them get another victory over the Blue Jays. Toronto will look to recover with Chris Bassitt on the mound, trying to strengthen their relief pitchers and take advantage of their offensive abilities. Both teams have standout players excelling, creating an enticing showdown.