About Yesterday: Making A Statement. Yankees 8, Blue Jays 3

About Yesterday: Making A Statement. Yankees 8 – Blue Jays 3

By Tim Kabel

August 24, 2026

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Made through Microsoft Copilot

The Yankees entered yesterday's game against the Blue Jays tied in the season series at six wins apiece. They had also split the first two games of the current series. As we all remember, last year, the Yankees lost the season series against the Blue Jays and although they were tied with the best record in the American League, the Blue Jays won the division and received a bye during the first round of the playoffs while the Yankees had to play the Red Sox. The Blue Jays ultimately went on to face the Dodgers in the World Series while the Yankees went home.

Things have changed this season. The Yankees have a record of 74-56 and are in second place in the American League East. The Blue Jays are 64-68 and are half a game ahead of the Orioles in the battle for last place in the American League East. Amazingly, the Blue Jays are in fifth place in the Wild Card race, a game and a half out. To borrow a line from The Sound of Music, the Blue Jays would have to climb every mountain at least twice to make the playoffs. However, anything is possible. The last thing the Yankees would want is to wind up tied in the wild card race with the Blue Jays and once again lose home field advantage. I know it's extremely unlikely, but that's baseball, Suzyn.

So, yesterday the Yankees took care of business. They won this series and the season series against the Blue Jays and pushed them one game farther away from the playoffs. 

The Yankees came to bat in the 6th inning tied at 2 with the Blue Jays. They opened the inning with three straight singles by George Lombard, Spencer Jones, and Jazz Chisholm, Chisholm's was a bunt which he beat out. After Austin Wells struck out and Jose Caballero flied out, Trent Grisham walked, pushing Lombard across the plate with the go-ahead run. Ben Rice then singled, driving in Spencer Jones and Jazz Chisholm. Chisholm added a two-run homer in the 7th and Grisham homered in the 8th to put the game out of reach.

Yankees starter Carlos Rodon allowed two runs, (one earned), and two hits in four innings.

Because this was only his second start off the IL, he was held to a pitch limit and threw 76 pitches.  He was stretched out in the fourth living, having to throw 12 extra pitches after a fielding error by Lombard.

Paul Blackburn pitched two innings for the win and improved his record to 5-2. Ryan Yarbrough and Brent Headrick closed out the game for the Yankees.

Ben Rice, George Lombard, Spencer Jones, and Jazz Chisholm each had two hits for the Yankees. One of Jones’s hits was an RBI double in the second inning. He also made a diving catch in right field on Alejandro Kirk's sinking line drive in the sixth inning. Thankfully and wisely, the Yankees did not dispatch Jones to the minor leagues to make room for Cody Bellinger on the roster. Instead, they sent Max Schuemann to Scranton. It seems likely that Jones will form some sort of platoon with Heliot Ramos in right field. However, Jones has already proven that he can hit left-handed pitching and Ramos has struggled since coming to New York, so we will see what happens. Regardless, I believe it is fair to say that Spencer Jones is improving steadily and is demonstrating that he is certainly capable of being a Major League Baseball player. It seems highly likely that Jones is positioning himself to take over for Grisham as the centerfielder next year.

This was a very solid win for the Yankees and as I noted earlier, it made a statement by exorcising the demons of last season with the Blue Jays and winning a series and a season series against their nemesis.  Speaking of playing against a nemesis, let's see what the Yankees can now do against the Astros and the Red Sox. 

A Few Tidbits: 

·       George Lombard, Jr. made an error in his third straight game. Before we panic and send someone to Scranton to retrieve Anthony Volpe, let's just take a moment and breathe. There are such things as growing pains, and it seemed to be a case where Lombard simply took his eye off the ball in anticipation of making a double play. In his brief Major League career, Lombard has already made several plays that Volpe would never make. Even in Volpe’s dreams, he is not as good as Lombard. Lombard is adjusting to being a Major League player. That takes time and patience. He will be given the time. As fans, we need to have the patience.

·       Chisholm's home run was his 18th of the season but only his first since August 4th. I wonder if I can get my money back on that Jazz Chisolm 50/50 club T-shirt I ordered. Hey, if you combine his home runs and stolen bases, he has 52. Maybe I could just erase the second 50 on the shirt.

·        The Yankees earned a win by at least five runs for the third time since the All-Star break. I don't know that that's necessarily a positive statistic. This group will hardly be known as Murderers’ Row. They are more of a Jaywalkers’ Row.

·       Austin Wells and Spencer Jones each had an RBI in the game. Think about this. Wells now has nineteen RBIs for the season. Jones, who has played 60 fewer games than Wells, has 22 RBIs.

·       The Yankees won for the sixth time in their last seven games yesterday.

·       The Yankees finished with double-digit hits for the third time in five games.

·       On August 23rd, 1997, Don Mattingly became the first Yankee to have his uniform number retired without having won a World Series ring. He was also honored with a plaque in Monument Park.

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After a day off today, the Yankees will open a three-game series on Tuesday against the Astros at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. Will Warren, (8-6, 4.43 ERA) will pitch for the Yankees. The Astros have not yet named a pitcher. Perhaps they never will. It would be easier to beat them that way.