The Yankees (100-55, 8.5 GA in AL East) continue their three-game series, the last home set of the regular season, Saturday at 1:05 p.m. from Yankee Stadium in New York when they resume action with the Toronto Blue Jays (63-91, 36.5 GB in AL East).
Yankees notes
The Yankees suffered an AL East title hangover Friday, following Thursday's division-clinching 9-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels with a 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium in New York. RF Aaron Judge homered among his two hits in the defeat when he sent a fourth-inning solo shot to left field, belting No. 25 of an injury-shortened season. Health has been a headache for manager Aaron Boone, who lost INF Gleyber Torres in the sixth inning after making a diving stop at 2B before he lost his footing and fell to the ground. In Torres' place, the Yankees insert 2B Tyler Wade into the lineup with SS Didi Gregorious up the middle.
| Blue Jays | Yankees |
|---|---|
| Jonathan Davis, CF | Brett Gardner, CF |
| Cavan Biggio, 2B | Aaron Judge, DH |
| Lourdes Gurriel Jr., DH | Didi Gregorius, SS |
| Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 3B | Giancarlo Stanton, LF |
| Randal Grichuk, RF | Gio Urshela, 3B |
| Teoscar Hernandez, CF | Mike Ford, 1B |
| Brandon Drury, 1B | Clint Frazier, RF |
| Richard Urena, SS | Tyler Wade, 2B |
| Luke Maile, C | Kyle Higashioka, C |
Who is starting for the Yankees?
LHP James Paxton (14-6, 3.88 ERA) has ascended to the top of the rotation since August, turning into the ace-type starter general manager Brian Cashman believed he could be before the offseason trade added him from the Seattle Mariners. Undefeated over his past nine starts, a career-best streak, the latest outing came against the Blue Jays last Saturday. In the Yankees' 13-3 win, Paxton limited the Blue Jays to one run on three hits with three strikeouts to two walks. Over the 9-0 run since Aug. 2, Paxton's ERA is 2.50 with 61 strikeouts to 20 walks in 54.0 innings. Specifically against the Blue Jays in 2019, Paxton is 1-0 with a 6.43 ERA.
Who is starting for the Blue Jays?
RHP T.J. Zeuch (1-0, 4.61 ERA) has already experienced three career outings, one of which came against the Yankees. Zeuch recorded his first career win after 5.1 innings, three runs (two earned) on five hits and five strikeouts to three walks during Sunday's 6-4 victory over the Yankees at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Called up recently, Zeuch debuted Sept. 3 with two runs on three hits and four strikeouts to two walks in 4.0 innings of relief before the Blue Jays fell 7-2 to the Atlanta Braves. Next time out, Zeuch stretched 4.1 innings with three runs on six hits and one strikeout to three walks in Sept. 10's 4-3 win over the Boston Red Sox.
Upcoming schedule
The Yankees complete their three-game series against the Blue Jays with Sunday's 1:05 p.m. finale at Yankee Stadium in New York. RHP Luis Severino (0-0, 0.00 ERA) makes his second start of the season since he returned off the 60-day injured list in Tuesday's 8-0 win over the Angels, facing Toronto RHP Trent Thornton (5-9, 4.93 ERA). The Yankees then take Monday off before they finish off their regular season with a five-game road trip Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays at 7:10 p.m. from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.