Yankees crush Blue Jays, 12-3, gain even more separation in AL East

The Yankees won, again, on Friday night. This time around, it was a 12-3 rout of the second-place Blue Jays. The Yankees have now won eight games in a row and move to a whopping 32 games over .500 at 48-16. 

This week actually presented an opportunity for the other AL East contenders to take a chunk out of the Yankees’ lead. Of course, with all the head-to-head action, the Yankees could also distance themselves from the pack even further. 

Four games in and it’s been the latter. The Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Rays on Thursday and have now taken the first of a three-game set in Toronto. 

In this one, the Blue Jays took an early lead, the Yankees got two in the fourth inning to grab their first lead, but then their power took over and they turned it into a blowout. 

The fifth inning started with Anthony Rizzo being hit by a pitch before Giancarlo Stanton and D.J. LeMahieu hit back-to-back homers: 

Doubles from Gleyber Torres and Joey Gallo pushed the lead to 6-1. A few batters later, Rizzo came to the plate again and put this one to bed with a 435-foot shot to right field.

Yes, that’s a grand slam to cap an eight-run inning, giving the Yankees a 10-1 lead. They were trailing not too long before. Rizzo now has 17 homers and 47 RBI. His career highs are 32 and 109, respectively. 

In the 9th, Torres was struck by a pitch to lead off the inning and Gallo followed with a homer to right field.

Lefty Jordan Montgomery threw well for the Yankees, too. His line: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. 

As noted, the Yankees are now 32 games over .500. They were one of the best teams in baseball history through 60 games and they’ve gone 4-0 since then. They are now playing at a .750 pace, which over the course of 162 would be a 122-40 record. The Major League record for wins is 116. 

Here are the top four in the AL East standings. 

1. Yankees
2. Blue Jays, 11 GB
3. Rays, 13 GB
4. Red Sox, 13.5 GB

The funny thing is, we left off the Orioles due to them not being a contender, but they are closer to second place (nine games behind the Blue Jays) than second-place Toronto is to first-place New York. 

The Blue Jays have two more chances in the series on Saturday and Sunday, but even if they win both, that would still be a nine-game deficit as we move toward the end of June. And it’s entirely possible the Yankees keep winning, too.