About Last Night: Blue Jays Win

By Andrew Hefner

July 22, 2025

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The Blue Jays came into this series looking to set a new record for most home wins in a row (which, with a win last night, they have now tied) and, more importantly, intending to gain a dominant lead in the AL East over the Yankees. The Jays went two for two last night in regards to those goals, winning in what seemed like easy fashion over a Yankees team that could not get their offense going, and worse, has lost their ability to make plays in the infield.

The main story across social media is Anthony Volpe, though, as he committed his 12th error of the season to tie for the most in the AL in the most pivotal point in last night’s matchup. Along with another error by Oswald Peraza, the infield defense continues to slide as the Yankees move down in the standings.

Although it was an overall poor performance for the Bombers, Carlos Rodon’s first start back from the break was not all that bad as he went five innings with only two earned runs, but he struggled with control, giving up five walks throughout his outing. With minimal run support and defensive struggles, there was not much more Rodon could do.

The extent of the Yankees' offensive production came in the fourth inning when Giancarlo Stanton, who has had excellent performances as of late, crushed an errant splitter to left for a solo shot that initially put the Yankees up one to nothing. With the Yanks going 0-4 in the game with runners in scoring position, there was not much more they would do in terms of run support.

The Yankees fall to a terrible 10-17 when facing AL East opponents this season and are four games back from the Jays, the most the Yanks have been behind in the AL East since 2023.

Player of the Game

Kevin Gausman had a fantastic start for the Jays, spinning seven innings of one-run ball (courtesy of the solo shot from Stanton), striking out eight and only surrendering four hits en route to a big win at home. Gausman improves his record to an even 7-7, and bounces back from a tough outing against the Athletics before the break.

Yankees Player of the Game

Although it did not have a huge effect on the game, JT Brubaker had a nice outing to hold Toronto to four runs with a solid two innings of work. It certainly was not the biggest or most important outing, but it was good to see strong work out of a bullpen that has been struggling as of late, especially when north of the border.

Notable Performances

• Giancarlo Stanton: 1-4, HR, RBI

• Trent Grisham: 1-3, 2B, BB

• Scott Effross: 1 IP, 0 ER, 0H

Better to Forget

• Jasson Dominguez: 0-4, K

• Aaron Judge: 0-3, 2K

• Auston Wells: 0-4, 3K

• Anthony Volpe: 0-3, Error

• Oswald Peraza: 1-3, K, Error

My Take

I am extremely unhappy with manager Aaron Boone’s comments postgame with regard to Anthony Volpe and the unacceptable mistakes made in this game across the board for the Yankees.

Volpe now leads baseball in the recently created "Inaccurate throws” metric and is tied for most errors in the AL with 12. For any manager, those numbers should be intolerable, yet with young players in the minors ready to pounce, and with plenty of struggles on the offensive side, Bonne still manages to say that Volpe is a top shortstop. Props to him for keeping the morale high, but please just look at the big picture and realize that what happened last night is a letdown to Rodon, to the players producing offensively, and to the fans.

Also in the presser, it was mentioned to Boone that Volpe was seen with an ice pack on his arm after the error, but Boone claimed there were no problems. It is one hundred percent worth asking if there has been a lingering issue that has caused Volpe to play the way he is.

Going forward, I hope a trade is in the works for infield help because I am not going to let Peraza off the hook for his error either. This team needs to be better, and I hate to have to sacrifice prospects like Spencer Jones or Everson Pereira that may help the team in the future, because there are Major League players on the Yankees roster that can not make plays.

Looking to Tonight

Youngster Cam Schlittler will take the mound for his second career start after missing his last one due to discomfort in his right bicep. The hard-throwing rookie will be matched up with likely future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer, who is looking to help the Blue Jays set a new franchise record for most wins in a row at home. First pitch is at 7:07 ET.