Yanks Fall To Jays, 4-3

By Andy Singer

August 22nd, 2026

The Big Story

The Yankees lost a game and potentially a whole lot more on Saturday. While the final score looked close, the Yankees made 1-3 run deficits look utterly insurmountable for much of the game. More critically, Ryan Weathers left the game in the 4th inning with obvious discomfort in his pitching arm, which was later confirmed to be tightness in his elbow and forearm. Weathers was sent for imaging immediately following his exit, if that's any indication of the level of concern the Yankees have regarding the injury.

As for the game, the same story reared its ugly head. Dylan Cease took a no-hitter into the 7th inning. Whenever the Yankees threatened with baserunners in scoring position, the offense generally wilted. As is common across baseball now, when runners got to 2B, hitters often looked to pull for impossible 5-run homers, only to watch as the ball was grounded weakly to SS ahead of the runner, both making an out and ensuring that the runner couldn't advance.

Luis Garcia hit a scorcher of a 2-run homer into the upper deck in RF to bring the game to within 1 run, but despite Jazz Chisholm's efforts in the 9th inning, the Yankees couldn't find a way to close the gap completely, snapping their 5 game win streak.

An Ominous Exit

Ryan Weathers was pitching without his best stuff from the start of the game. He wasn't bad, per say, but while his velocity was in-line with expectations, his stuff just didn't look quite as sharp as it has in recent weeks. This is an instance where the box score tells a fair amount of the tale. Weathers didn't have it going on, but he got the tough outs when he needed them, scattering 8 hits through 3.1 innings, but he allowed just 2 runs and only 4 hard hit balls. It wasn't pretty always, but he was keeping the Yankees in the game, which is really all you can ask for when a pitcher is pitching without his best stuff.

I noticed Weathers moving his left arm around a lot at the beginning of the 4th inning, and it only got worse as he continued to pitch. Finally, Weathers really recoiled on an 0-1 sweeper to Miles Straw, and he left the game mid-at-bat.

Many people are going to point to Ryan Weathers' innings jump from the last couple of years to this year and his ugly injury history. Those people aren't wrong, but there also hasn't been any indication that Weathers was falling off at all; to the contrary, Weathers has gotten better the more he's pitched.

Pitchers break. It's a basic truism in the modern game. Obviously, we need to wait to get official word, but my gut tells me that Ryan Weathers has pitched his last game this season. I really, really hope I'm wrong.

Missed Opportunities

Dylan Cease has a sterling reputation, and he's put together numerous All-Star caliber campaigns. If I told you that Cease had a no-hitter going into the 7th inning, you'd probably guess that he was on his game and giving the Yankees little chance to do real damage.

That would be a good guess, but you'd be wrong. Cease scattered 5 walks before he even got an out in the 7th inning. Cease also left a surprising number of 91-94 MPH fastballs over the gut of the plate throughout the contest, but the Yankees just couldn't capitalize.

Frankly, I knew that the Yankees would lose this game by the end of the 7th inning. The Yankees finally started to get to Cease and knocked him out of the game after Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled to break up the no-hitter and Wells rapped an RBI single to put 2 on with one out. The Yankees then loaded the bases immediately after Cease left the game when Cabby got hit by the first pitch Spencer Miles threw. Trent Grisham worked a full count before striking out to end the Yankees' threat.

That single sequence took the wind out of the Yankees' sails. The Yankees tried to mount a comeback on the back of a laser homer by Luis Garcia Jr. in the 8th and a double/stolen base by Jazz in the 9th, but their earlier inability to capitalize on opportunities really cost them.

Ramos Continues His Struggles

I am beginning to understand why Heliot Ramos was an unpopular player in San Francisco. In the bottom of the 6th, Ramos grounded out to 3B. The play was surprisingly close, but Ramos was jogging at half speed down the first base line. For a guy that isn't hitting at all, that was pretty damaging, and it's not the first time we've seen it.

Defensively, saying that Ramos is an adventure is underselling it. Early in the game, Ramos dove for a ball after a bad first step and it clanked off of his mitt for a hit. Later, on a liner that just stayed fair, Ramos didn't have enough arm to get the ball in quickly and prevent a double.

I am beginning to think that Dominguez might be a better option.

Looking Ahead

The Yankees need to shake off this loss and get back to winning tomorrow. Rodon gets on the hill for the Yankees as he continues to build back up from his own IL stint tomorrow afternoon. Let's hope for a better performance all-around tomorrow.