After Stroman screams, Yankees win laugher in Toronto, 16-5

New York Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman reacts after giving up a single to the Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr., not pictured, in the fifth inning at Rogers Centre on Friday, June 28, 2024, in Toronto.

Friday’s game in Toronto had the makings of a meltdown. Instead, the Yankees snapped their four-game losing streak with a 16-5, comeback win over the Blue Jays.

The Yankees could have unraveled during a dramatic fifth inning. That’s when the Blue Jays scored their second run on a bouncing ball to Anthony Volpe. Volpe flipped to Gleyber Torres at second, but the second baseman’s throw didn’t beat a hustling Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to first for a double play. After Guerrero motioned safe at first, a demonstrative Marcus Stroman could be seen screaming on the mound.

“Throw the f------ ball,” the starter appeared to yell.

While Torres had a slight hiccup getting rid of the ball, Guerrero got down the line at 29.4 feet per second, his fastest sprint speed of the season.

Stroman proceeded to walk the next batter before being pulled from the game. In the dugout, the righty continued to express his frustrations before cameras caught Aaron Judge calming him down after the inning.

Prior to Judge’s display of leadership, Michael Tonkin hit George Springer with a pitch, which forced a third Toronto run in.

The Blue Jays could have had a bigger fifth inning, but Guerrero tried to score from third on a pitch that got by Jose Trevino, though not far enough. Rather than tossing to Tonkin, Trevino dove into Guerrero at the plate for the second out of the inning. Tonkin then got a strikeout to stop the bleeding, setting the stage for the Yankees’ comeback.

Juan Soto, somewhat cold of late, proved to be the star of that stage, hammering a three-run homer off of Blue Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi in the sixth inning. The three-run blast, Soto’s 20th home run of the season, gave the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

The Yankees didn’t stop there in the sixth, as J.D. Davis added an RBI double. Torres, in his return from a two-game benching, then cranked a two-run home run.

As Torres returned to the dugout, Stroman was the first to dap him up.

The Blue Jays kept fighting after that, as former Yankee Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Guerrero hit solo homers in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.

However, the Yankees repadded their lead in the eighth, as Alex Verdugo and DJ LeMahieu recorded RBI doubles. LeMahieu’s was his first extra-base hit of the season.

Judge then knocked a two-run single in the ninth before Oswaldo Cabrera doubled a run home. Torres gave the Yankees a baker’s dozen with a sac fly, while Verdugo put a second touchdown on the board with an RBI single. Trevino, the only Yankee without a hit to that point, joined the party with an RBI double before Jahmai Jones concluded the onslaught with an RBI single to give the Yankees a season-high 16 runs.

The Blue Jays struck first in the game, as George Springer picked up an RBI single in the opening inning. The Yankees got their first run in the fourth when Judge got into a rundown on a Davis groundout, which allowed Soto to score.

Stroman, meanwhile, totaled 4 1/3 innings, five hits, three earned runs, three walks, three strikeouts and 88 pitches against his former team. He now has a 3.29 ERA this season.

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