Rice and shine: Yankees wake up just in time

The fight for the top of the American League East has two clear protagonists: the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees. The Canadian franchise sits in first place, but the New York team isn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet in Major League Baseball. On Tuesday, after dropping the first game of the series at Rogers Centre, the Bronx Bombers bounced back with a 5–4 win.

Ninth-inning blast rescues Yankees in Toronto

The day’s showdown started off rough for veteran pitcher Max Scherzer, as Jazz Chisholm Jr. launched a three-run homer early in the game. The second baseman drove in Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger, giving the Yankees an immediate 3–0 lead. In the bottom of that same inning, the Blue Jays answered back with Addison Barger driving in George Springer to make it 3–1.

In the fifth, the Yankees saw Bellinger step up again – the left fielder hit a solo home run to stretch the score to 4–1. But Toronto wasn’t done. In the bottom half of the inning, Barger delivered again with an RBI single off Cam Schlittler, once more bringing in Springer and cutting the lead to 4–2.

Despite holding a solid advantage, the “Mules of Manhattan” struggled once again to lock down the scoreboard. A costly error by Anthony Volpe allowed the Blue Jays to tie it 4–4. Fortunately for the Yankees and their fans, Ben Rice stepped up in the ninth inning – the first baseman smashed a solo shot to right field, giving New York the lead once again at 5–4.

Devin Williams seals the win

Closer Devin Williams, who has faced some control issues since joining the Yankees, came in to shut things down in the ninth. The 30-year-old pitcher struck out two batters to stave off any Blue Jays rally. He now has 15 saves on the season and continues to gain confidence with each outing. His final test was Mexico’s Alejandro Kirk, who went down swinging at a vicious changeup that broke sharply at the plate.

With this victory, the New York Yankees are now just three games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. Their mission for Wednesday is clear – another win would narrow the gap to just two games in the heated race for the AL East crown.

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