Blue Jays 4, Yankees 1

By Mike Whiteman August 16, 2026

Two somber remembrances today. On this day in 1920, Yankee pitcher Carl Mays threw the infamous pitch that hit Cleveland Indian shortstop Ray Chapman squarely in the head, leading to his passing away the morning after. The events surrounding the only death directly from an on-field injury in a Major League game are recounted in Mike Sowell's really good book The Pitch that Killed: Carl Mays, Ray Chapman, and the Pennant Race of 1920.

Both Chapman an Mays were accomplished players by their own right, but are connected forever on baseball history. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/maysca01.shtml https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Carl-Mays/ https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/chapmra01.shtml https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Ray-Chapman/ On this day in 1948, baseball and American icon Babe Ruth died after battling throat cancer. I can only imagine the sadness of this day.

https://baseballhall.org/discover/inside-pitch/ruths-passing-stuns-baseball-world https://www.life.com/history/bye-bye-bambino-the-funeral-of-babe-ruth/

Quick Stats: The Yankees are 68-55, second place in the American League East. They somehow still have the second best record in the American League, and lead the Wild Card standings. The Yanks have scored zero or one run in 23 games this season. They have scored two or in fewer 37 games. They have lost two 1-0 games and five 2-1 contests. Big Story: The Blue Jays deployed their bullpen against the Yankees and Cam Schlittler, and the Yanks got on the scoreboard first in the second inning when George Lombard Jr. singled in Spencer Jones, who had singled and stole second base. Toronto evened the game in the third, when Alejandro Kirk singled in Brett Batemen. Things stayed this way until the seventh, when the Jays scored on a Charles McAdoo double off Brent Headrick and gave the home team a 2-1 lead. Down by one run feels almost unsurmountable of late, and when Toronto added two more in the eighth, that was the game. Toronto's bullpen game holds the Yanks to four singles on the day. Yankees lose, 4-1. Player of the Game: Cam Schlittler wasn't at his best, but it was pretty darned good, allowing only one run in five-plus innings, striking out seven. He lowered his ERA to 2.19, best in the AL. Notable Performances: Spencer Jones showed a good piece of hitting in his single off hard-throwing lefty Ricky Tiedemann, making his MLB debut. Better to Forget: Tim Hill allowed two runs on three hits in two thirds of an inning. I root hard for Hill, who beat stage three colon cancer ten years ago to make a good MLB career for himself. He now has a 4.63 ERA, and his underlying numbers are worse. Here's hoping he can get back on track. They Said It: "It's a long season. It's a hard season. We know adverse times are going to come in different kind of ways" - Aaron Boone on his team's offensive struggles. My Take: Not much to say which isn't obvious - the Yanks are really struggling at the plate, and right now go as far as their pitching takes them. The bet is clear - hang in there, get the injured players back, get to the playoffs, put it all together for a run. I hope it works, but it's a real grind now. It feels like the pitching have to be near perfect to get the win. Next Up: This should be a good one. Ryan Weathers (5-7, 3.69 on the season, 2-0, 0.74 his last four starts) takes the mound against Dylan Cease (7-5, 2.40). Game time 1:37 pm.