TORONTO (AP) — From April through September, the Toronto Blue Jays got the best of the New York Yankees, winning the AL East in a tiebreaker based on 8-5 head-to-head record that included a 6-1 advantage north of the border.
Starting Saturday, in the first October postseason meeting between these longtime division rivals, they’ll battle for a spot in the AL Championship Series against Seattle or Detroit.
Kevin Gausman will start Game 1 for the Blue Jays, opposed by the Yankees’ Luis Gil. Manager John Schneider said Gausman’s steadiness made him an easy choice.
“He’s the same guy every single day,” Schneider said. “You don’t worry about him getting caught up in the noise.”
After using his top three starters in this week’s Wild Card Series win over Boston, Yankees manager Aaron Boone picked Gil over Will Warren to open the ALDS.
“I feel like he’s ready for this and he’s in line,” Boone said. “I trust him to handle the situation.”
Gausman, a 34-year-old right-hander, went 10-11 with a 3.59 ERA and 189 strikeouts over 32 regular season starts.
“I’m ready to go,” Gausman said. “I’m fired up.”
Gausman went 2-1 in four outings against the Yankees. He allowed two home runs, both Giancarlo Stanton solo drives, in 22 2/3 innings.
Gil missed most of the season because of a right lat strain. The 2024 AL Rookie of the Year went 4-1 with a 3.32 ERA in 11 starts after returning in early August.
“I feel really good,” Gil said through a translator. “I finally feel that I’m 100%.”
By playing Toronto, New York has just three opponents it won’t have faced in the postseason: the Chicago White Sox, Colorado, and Washington/Montreal.
BAD TIMING
New York’s seven games in Toronto all came between June 30 and July 23, during an 8-13 slide by the Yankees. The Yankees were much improved after trade deadline acquisitions.
“The times we were here in the summer a couple of times wasn’t at our best, certainly, and still working through some things,” Boone said. “I feel like obviously the last couple of months we really started to play really well.”
New York went 34-19 in August and September, winning eight straight to finish the season at 94-68, the same record as the Blue Jays.
WHO’S NEXT?
Boone said left-hander Max Fried will start Sunday’s Game 2, with Carlos Rodón and rookie sensation Cam Schlittler expected to follow.
Toronto’s Schneider didn’t reveal who’d start Game 2. The leading candidates are 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber and rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage, who rose from low-A to the majors this season, going 1-0 in three September starts.
Yesavage struck out 160 batters in 98 innings across four minor league stops and fanned 16 more in 14 big league innings.
BO BACK?
The Blue Jays head into the ALDS still uncertain, at least publicly, about the status of injured shortstop Bo Bichette. The two-time AL hits leader and two-time All-Star hasn’t played since Sept. 6 when he sprained his left knee in a collision with Yankees catcher Austin Wells.
Schneider said Friday that Bichette hasn’t been able to test himself by running or hitting against regular pitching speeds.
“For him to be on (the roster), he’d have to play pretty regularly,” Schneider said. “It’s not saving him for a Kirk Gibson at bat once a game that may not come.”
Toronto bolstered its lineup by welcoming back switch hitting slugger Anthony Santander in September after almost four months out because of a left shoulder injury, but Bichette’s absence still leaves a big hole.
“It’s hard to play without Bo,” slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said through a translator. “Obviously we didn’t want that to happen, but it’s just part of baseball.”
WALK THIS WAY
No opposing team issued Aaron Judge more intentional walks (seven) than the Blue Jays. In all, Judge walked 15 times in 56 plate appearances in 13 games against Toronto.
“If there’s a way to limit the times he does swing and potentially impact the ball, that’s a benefit for us,” Schneider said. “But there’s no set of rules to say when and when not to.”
Judge hit .325 with three homers, six RBIs and 24 total bases against Toronto.
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