TORONTO – Bo Bichette hit a pair of home runs, including one that broke the tie in the eighth inning off Clay Holmes, and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Yankees 6-5 on Wednesday night to inject more drama into the wild-card race from the American League.
New York saw a seven-game winning streak snapped.
Marcus Semien put Toronto ahead with a two-run homer in the first inning off Gerrit Cole, his 44th home run of the season, marking a new Major League Baseball record for a second baseman and surpassing Davey Johnson’s 43. Atlanta in 1973.
George Springer received Cole with a first pitch double and Semien blew the wall on the sixth pitch. Springer added an RBI single in the second inning and Bichette’s solo homer in the third inning gave Toronto a 4-0 lead against Cole.
Kyle Higashioka tied the game with a two-run single in the seventh inning off Tim Mayza.
With the score 5-5, Bichette opened the eighth inning against Holmes (8-4) with his 28th homer, a hit to the opposite band that surpassed the scoreboard in the wall between right and center field.
Adam Cimber (3-4) retired four foes for the win. With running back in second and all 29,601 fans on their feet, Jordan Romano flied out Tyler Wade to lower the curtain and reach 22 saves in 23 chances.
Boston came close to a Yankees game in the fight for the first wild card, and Toronto is one game behind the Red Sox. Seattle, which started the match 2.5 games behind the Yankees, later hosted Oakland.
For the Blue Jays, the Dominicans Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 4-1 with an RBI; Santiago Espinal 3-2 with one scored; Teoscar Hernández 4-0. Cuban Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 4-0.
For the Yankees, Colombian Gio Urshela 4-1 with one produced and one scored. Venezuelan Gleyber Torres 4-3 with two runs scored. The Dominican Gary Sánchez 1-0.
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