Yankees shutout by Blue Jays in Game 1 of doubleheader

The first time they saw Alek Manoah, the big right-hander struck out seven straight Yankees to start a spring training game. When the lights came on and the game really counted on Thursday, the Blue Jays’ young pitcher was even more impressive.

And the Yankees offense was just as dreadful.

Manoah threw six scoreless innings in his major league debut as the Blue Jays beat the Yankees, 2-0, in the first seven-inning game of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium.

It was the second time this season the Bombers have been shut out, their second straight loss in two days and their sixth loss out of eight games against the talented young Blue Jays this season. The Yankees dropped the three-game series, which was interrupted by rain on Wednesday night. It was the first series the Bombers lost in the last 11, dating back to when they were swept by the Rays, April 16-18.

The Yankees managed just two hits — err, Miguel Andujar had two hits in the opening game. They could not get a runner into scoring position and struck out eight times.

“I mean we’re frustrated but we don’t have time for that right now,” Aaron Boone said of the quiet Bombers’ bats. “We gotta find a way to dig in and and have some good at bats now against Robbie Ray. We didn’t string much together, just a couple soft hits. We got to do a little bit better than that and hopefully we can start here in about a half hour.”

It was another red flag for the Yankees offense.

The loudest cheers at Yankee Stadium Thursday seemed to come from relatives and loved ones of Toronto Blue Jays’ Alek Manoah. (Frank Franklin II/AP)

The Yankees have scored just 20 runs over their last eight games and are desperately looking for some offensive help.

They’ve lost Aaron Hicks, who came into the season expecting to be the No. 3 hitter, likely for the rest of the season after surgery on his left wrist. They’ve had 2020 Home Run King Luke Voit for all of 12 games this season, after beginning the year on the injured list for knee surgery rehab and going back on it Thursday with an oblique strain.

The Yankees went into Thursday’s doubleheader with the worst OPS at center field (.585) and the lowest WAR among outfielders (0.1) in the big leagues. They were 28th in MLB at first base with a .544 OPS.

That spoiled a solid start by Domingo German, who really made just two mistakes all day.

He allowed two run, on back-to-back home runs to Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette in the third inning. He walked two and struck out five in 5.2 innings of work.

The Bombers’ offensive issues wasted that outing as they were absolutely dominated by Manoah.

He allowed just those two hits, walked two and struck out seven.

“His fastball played up a little bit. It looked like he moved it around mixed in a secondary well,” the Yankee manager said. “I thought the middle innings were a little bit challenging when the shadows rolled in for both sides, but he was in control the entire game. Four pitches for a walk to start the game and then he got his command in line and had three pitches going for him and we just obviously didn’t mount much.”

Manoah threw four straight balls to open the game, but then just powered his way through the Yankees lineup. The 23-year-old, who had a loud and proud group of about 20 friends and family cheering him on,   was just the fourth pitcher to make his major league debut against the Yankees since 2017 and the first to do so in Yankee Stadium (Blake Snell debuted April 2016). He is only the sixth pitcher to make his major league debut at this Yankee Stadium since it opened in 2009.

He was clearly not intimidated.