Yankees turn it on late, blow out Blue Jays for 11th in a row | Rapid reaction

TORONTO — The Yankees still can’t do much with Blue Jays rising star Alek Manoah, a 6-foot-6, second-year righty who was mowing them down again Tuesday night at Rogers Centre. Through five, the Yankees managed one hit, their last 14 hitters had been set down and they were down a run.

Didn’t matter.

In the midst of one of their hottest streaks ever, the Yankees eventually got into the Toronto bullpen and quickly turned a pitching duel into a 9-1 blowout win that made in 11 in a row.

Amazing.

Give Yankees starter Jameson Taillon a ton of credit for holding the fort in a one-run, six-inning start that matched Manoah’s line.

Give Aaron Judge kudos for a hitting a second-deck, sixth-inning homer off Manoah to tie it up 1-1.

And hats off to pretty much the entire Yankees’ lineup for scoring six in the seventh off relievers Adam Cinder and Julian Merryweather to turn a tie game into a six-run cushion, even though Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette opened the flood gates with a throwing error on Giancarlo Stanton’s leadoff grounder and first baseman Vladimir Guerrero butchered a one-out rundown, allowing Marwin Gonzalez to score.

Following the error, Josh Donaldson doubled in Stanton to put the Yanks ahead 2-1, then another tally scored two batters later on a two-bagger by Gonzalez, who got the start in left field.

After an infield hit by Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Jose Trevino hit a grounder to first baseman Vladimir Guerrero, who threw home with Gonzalez breaking from third to home. Gonzalez stopped halfway, then broke back for third when catcher Alejandro Kirk threw to third baseman Matt Chapman. When Gonzalez turned and headed home again, Chapman flipped the ball to Guerrero, who was covering the plate.

Somehow, Gonzalez twisted his way around the tag to score a run that set off Guerrero, who argued the runner had gone inside the baseline and should have been ruled out.

The Yankees may have received a break being awarded the run that made it a 4-1 game, but they sure made the most of it because Aaron Hicks followed with an RBI single and Judge followed that with a two-run double to put Toronto in a 7-1 hole.

Stanton accounted for the Yankees’ final two runs with a ninth-inning homer, his fifth.

By winning, the Yankees hiked their AL East lead to 3 ½ games over the second-place Blue Jays and secure the franchise’s 18th winning streak of at least 11 games and second in two years. The Yankees won 13 in a row last August, their longest surge since a 15-gamer in 1960. The club record is 19 wins in a row in 1947.

NOTABLE

— Judge tied the game 1-1 two pitches after Hicks was caught stealing for the second out of the Yankees’ sixth. His ninth homer of the season tied teammate Anthony Rizzo for the major league lead.

— Manoah has held the Yankees to one run over 12 innings in two starts this season and four runs over 23 2/3 innings in four career outings for a 1.52 ERA.

— A key the outcome was Manoah being wild in a 24-pitch first that ran up his pitch count. He was pulled after six innings and 91 pitches, four shy of his season high.

— Yankees left fielder Joey Gallo didn’t play for third day in a row, but his left groin tightness wasn’t bothering him on Tuesday and he hopes to start Wednesday’s series finale.

LOOKING AHEAD

Wednesday: Yankees at Blue Jays, 7:07 p.m., YES. LHP Nestor Cortes (1-0, 1.31) vs. LHP Yusei Kukuchi (0-1, 5.52).

Thursday: Off day.

Friday: Rangers at Yankees, 7:05 p.m., Amazon Prime. TBA vs. RHP Gerrit Cole (2-0, 3.00).

Saturday: Rangers at Yankees, 1:05 p.m., YES & MLB Network (out of market). TBA vs. RHP Luis Severino (2-0, 3.75).

Sunday: Rangers at Yankees, 1:35 p.m., YES. TBA vs. LHP Jordan Montgomery (0-1. 2.88).

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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.

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