About Last Night: The Yankees Lost 7-1

About Last Night: The Yankees Laid an Egg Against the Blue Jays 7-1

By Tim Kabel

September 6, 2025

***

The Yankees went in to the first game of their final three-game series with the Blue Jays with a chance to gain ground and with something to prove. Cam Schlittler had looked good since being called up. This was his second outing against the Blue Jays, and he performed well the first time. Last night was the first time Aaron Judge played the outfield since late July.  It was clear that he was not throwing the ball at full strength. Jazz Chisholm, Jr. was essentially functioning as his caddy and was almost close enough for Judge to hand him the ball. Judge and Aaron Boone claimed that Judge was able to throw at full strength, but our eyes told us otherwise. It seems likely that the wear and tear of playing the outfield is catching up to Giancarlo Stanton, and the Yankees’ "brain trust" (I use that term loosely) determined that the lesser of two evils was to play Judge in the outfield and use Stanton as the DH. Stanton did hit a home run for the Yankees’ only run. But Schlittler came back to earth and only lasted 1 2/3 innings and the Yankees were outclassed by the Blue Jays. At least for the first game, the Yankees lost ground rather than gaining it. They have two games left against Toronto. They had better come ready to play because the Blue Jays are clearly doing so.

Quick Stats – 

·       Cam Schlittler threw 40 pitches in the first inning. 13 of those pitches were fouled off.

·       Giancarlo Stanton hit his 19th home run in 59 games since returning from the IL.

·       Vladimir Guerrero had his second four-hit game this year and hit his 16th home run in 46 games at Yankee Stadium.  

·       Kevin Gausman won for the first time in a month last night.

·       Toronto’s batters fouled off 24 of Schlittler's 66 pitches and two others were tipped.

·       Ryan Yarbrough, who entered the game in the second inning in relief of Schlittler, threw seven more pitches than Schlittler.

·       On September 5^th, 1921, Walter Johnson broke Cy Young's career strikeout mark by fanning seven Yankees to run his total to 2,287. That just gives you an even greater appreciation for Nolan Ryan's accomplishments. (Nolan Ryan struck out 5,714 batters in his career.)

Big Story – 

The second-place Yankees opened a three-game against the first-place Blue Jays last night. The Yankees trailed the Blue Jays by three games entering play last night. The hope was that by Sunday night, the Yankees would be tied for first place in the American League East.  So much for that.  The Yankees are now 2-2 in their first four games against playoff teams.  They have eight games left against the Blue Jays, Tigers, and Red Sox.  

This is a tough stretch of games, but the Yankees only have 21 games left this season.  At this point, they have to beat everybody to secure a playoff spot. I don't mean that they need to win every game. They need to win games and series against every team they play. The Yankees have a comfortable hold on a Wild Card berth, but things can change. If they have a losing record in their games against playoff teams, they could very easily sink in the Wild Card race. Because of the Boone-Swoon that went on from May 30th through the end of August, the Yankees can't employ the strategy of beating up on losing teams and holding their own against winning teams. As I noted above, they only have 21 games left. No matter what, because they won last night, the Blue Jays will leave New York on Sunday in sole possession of first place in the American League East.

The Blue Jays have now beaten the Yankees 8 times in 11 games. They have already won the season series against the Yankees and have demonstrated that at least this season, they are the better team. Similarly, the Yankees have lost 8 of 10 games to the Red Sox. They will play the Red Sox next weekend. In order to secure the top wild card spot, the Yankees will need to beat the Blue Jays and the Red Sox. If they make it into the playoffs, they will need to beat those teams at that time. They have not shown an ability to do so this season. 

In May, the Yankees were ahead of the Blue Jays in the American League East by eight games. Today, the Yankees trail the Blue Jays by four games. To use a technical term, that's not good. Whatever hopes the Yankees had of overtaking the Blue Jays and winning the division are fading quickly. Yes, it is possible, but the Yankees would need to beat the Blue Jays in the next two games and then win games against the Tigers and Red Sox. The Yankees have not been able to do that consistently this season. That will leave the remaining thirteen games against the Twins, White Sox, and Orioles. The best way to gain on a team in front of you is to beat them in head-to-head matchups. The Yankees are not doing that. It is likely that they will squeak into the playoffs but since they have trouble playing against winning teams, what can we reasonably expect them to do in the playoffs? The Yankees truly need to bear down against the Blue Jays, Tigers, and Red Sox. The sand is running out of the hourglass for the Yankees.

Player of the Game – 

Giancarlo Stanton had two of the Yankees four hits, including his 19th home run of the season. 

Notable Performance – 

Ryan Yarbrough pitched 5 1/3 innings of relief, allowing only one run, and saving the Yankees’ bullpen.

Better To Forget-

Pretty much everything other than Stanton and Yarbrough. 

My Take – 

During my career at the Department of Children and Families, I worked primarily with the adolescent population. One time when I was a supervisor, I had to call a young lady who was not going to school. The bus came to pick her up every morning, but she never appeared. I asked her what was going on and she told me that the bus stopped on the opposite side of the street from her house. She told me that as a result, she would be required to cross the street and she found that to be too difficult. She wanted the bus to make a U-turn of some sort and stop directly in front of her door.  At least she did not ask for litter bearers to bring her from the house to the bus. I responded by sending her an article, which included pictures, of children in India who walked three miles to school every day and formed a human chain to cross a river. My attempts at inspiration were not successful and her attendance never improved.

Before, during, and after last night's game, I read and heard comments regarding the fact that the Yankees landed in New York after 4:00 AM on Friday morning. The point was that the Yankees should have played the final game against Houston in the afternoon to allow them to reach New York at some point on Thursday, as opposed to Friday. While that is a reasonable request, sometimes life is not reasonable. Sometimes life is not fair. When it comes to overcoming adversity, I would not rank arriving at the airport at 4:15 AM on a day when you had a game scheduled at 7:00 PM at the top of the list.

I also heard people saying that Cam Schlittler is only a rookie, and he was making just his tenth start of the season last night and that last night was too much to ask. While it is true that Schlittler struggled mightily last night, that is bound to happen. Some games pitchers struggle. It has happened with Max Fried this season. It happens with every pitcher. The larger issue is that the Yankees’ offense did nothing. Schlittler has pitched well this season and will most likely do so again.

Kevin Gausman had not won a game for a month before winning last night. Cam Schlittler was not on the flight from Houston that landed at 4:15 AM on Friday. My understanding is that he was in New York earlier. The lack of rest argument doesn't hold water there.

There has been a trend lately regarding the Yankees. There is an excuse for everything. In Houston, there were bad calls by the umpires. Giancarlo Stanton shouldn't have to play the outfield because it he has limited mobility and the wear and tear on his legs is too much for him. Cam Schlitter and Will Warren are rookies. Luis Gil has been out most of the season with injuries. Anthony Volpe might resent the fact that fans boo him. It was suggested at one point that the fans should give him a standing ovation merely for being on the field to inspire him. 

The Major League Baseball season is long and challenging. It begins in March and ends in September. For a team to be successful, they have to make plays, not excuses. They need to overcome adversity, not provide explanations for why they didn't. I remember a skit on the Benny Hill show in which he said, “He who smiles when all goes wrong has just thought of someone he can blame it on.” That was funny but if this Yankees’ team wants to make the playoffs and advance in them, they need to get significantly tougher. They can't just keep relying on their manager to say, “It's right there in front of us.” I'm not even sure what that means. I suppose it means that the opportunity to win is right there for the Yankees. Unfortunately, so is the opportunity to lose.

There is an old saying that “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” It is not “When the going gets tough, the tough complain about having to take a late flight.” I have a friend who went to a store one day with his now ex-wife. She became angry with him and drove off, leaving him three miles from home on the 4th of July. It was the hottest day of the year, and my friend was sweating more than Aroldis Chapman just standing in the parking lot. He didn't call anyone. He didn't cry. He didn't lie down in the parking lot and hope for the best. He walked home. It took him a while and there was a cloud of steam coming off him by the time he reached his house but, he did what he had to do. He overcame a bad situation. 

The Yankees have a handful of games left this season and if they want to put themselves in the best possible position for the playoffs and then advance to the World Series, they need to be tough. This is the time for them to win games. They need to overcome adversity, not crumple because of it. Let's see what they do for the rest of this weekend and the rest of the season.

Next Up-

The Yankees will play the second game of the three-game series against the Blue Jays today at 1:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. The Blue Jays will use Chris Bassitt, (11-7, 4.10 ERA). The Yankees will send Luis Gil, (2-1, 3.68 ERA) to the mound. Let’s hope Bassitt doesn’t hound the Yankees into submission.