The follies of Blue Jays outfielder Derek Fisher open the floodgates in Yankees’ rout
Derek Fisher #DerekFisher
NEW YORK—Luke Voit and Aaron Hicks homered to key a seven-run second inning that was made possible when Blue Jays right fielder Derek Fisher misplayed a pair of fly balls, and the New York Yankees moved past Toronto into second place in the AL East with a 20-6 blowout Tuesday night that extended their winning streak to six games.
Voit homered twice, raising his major league-leading total to 18, and had five RBIs for the Yankees, who have rebounded following a 5-15 stretch and put themselves back on track to reach the expanded playoffs. New York (27-21) and Toronto (26-21) started a stretch of seven games against each other in the final two weeks of the season.
DJ LeMahieu had four hits and five RBIs, raising his average 13 points to .363. LeMahieu homered on a 48.7-m.p.h. offering from infielder Santiago Espinal leading off the eighth, the slowest pitch hit for a home run since MLB started tracking in 2008.
LeMahieu, batting leadoff, and Voit, hitting behind him, combined to mark the first time in Yankees history both the No. 1 and 2 hitters had five RBIs in the same game.
Gary Sanchez hit a three-run homer off Anthony Kay and Clint Frazier had a two-run shot against Ryan Borucki.
Giancarlo Stanton and Gio Urshela returned from the injured list for the Yankees, who expect to get Aaron Judge back Wednesday or Thursday.
Stanton was 0-for-4 with a walk as the designated hitter, the only Yankees starter without a hit, after missing 32 games because of a strained left hamstring. Urshela had three hits and made several sparking defensive plays at third after missing 11 games with a right elbow bone spur.
Rookie Deivi García (2-1) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.
New York scored its most runs since a 20-6 win at Atlanta on Aug. 30, 2015. The Yankees batted around in the second, third and fourth innings, the first time they achieved the feat in three consecutive frames since doing it from the fifth through eighth innings in a 22-9 rout of Oakland on Aug. 25, 2011, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Taijuan Walker was chased after 1 2/3 innings that included six unearned runs, and Shun Yamaguchi followed with a second inning out of youth ball. The 33-year-old right-hander, who signed with the Jays for this season after 14 years in the Japanese major leagues, walked his first three batters, hit the next two, allowed LeMahieu’s three-run double and also threw a wild pitch and committed a balk.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a solo homer, single and double. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the Blue Jays, who host a four-game series against the Yankees next week in Buffalo.
Toronto had won eight of its previous 12 games.
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