Blue Jays burned by walks in another one-run loss to Yankees

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This game had all the trappings of a real pitching duel, but as is often the case the appearance was deceiving.

Blue Jays strikeout king Dylan Cease and Yankees starter Will Warren were both rolling coming into this one, but neither left feeling overly great about their respective nights in what would become a 5-4 New York win.

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Cease initially looked like he was in total control as he held the Yankees scoreless through the first three innings, while striking out six of those first nine batters.

But Cease was doing most of that with just his fastball and slider, often shaking off Tyler Heineman repeatedly as the Jays catcher called for some of his secondary pitches.

The limited arsenal, or at least the lack of confidence in those secondary pitches, came around to bite Cease as the Yankees got to him for three runs in the fourth after the Jays had just taken a 3-0 lead and then two more in the fifth on a Ben Rice two-run homer that proved to be the difference in the game.

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This was not the Cease that Jays fans have been watching for much of the season. On the other side, Will Warren didn’t give up the big shots that Cease did nor did he have the walk issue that plagued Cease on this night as the Jays right-hander put four on via the free pass, three of which came around to score.

Warren had one bad inning in the fourth when the Jays scored all three of their runs by stringing together four singles, a walk and a sacrifice bunt to get that early three-run lead.

Warren only lasted five innings, but when the Yankees scored two in the bottom of the fifth, that was enough to earn him his sixth win against just one loss this season.

On three different occasions, including the ninth inning with the game still up for grabs, the Jays had runners on first and third with just one out.

The first two times they failed to cash in even a single run. In the ninth, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got one in with a sacrifice fly to centre field, but with the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on second, flamethrower Camilo Doval got Kazuma Okamoto to ground out to short to end the game.

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With the loss, the Jays fell to six games under .500.

Trey Yesavage will try to get the Jays back on the winning side of things in Game 3 of the series on Wednesday night. The Jays, though, will have their own young gun to battle as the Yankees send Cam Schlittler and his 6-1 record against them.

YANKEE STADIUM MEMORIES

The Jays have some pretty good ones from last year, but the early returns on 2026 are not quite as nice.

Granted we’re just two games in, but Adam Macko, the young Albertan who is making his major-league debut here, might be the lone exception from a Blue Jays standpoint so far this season.

Macko has appeared in both games for the Jays in this four-game series and earned a hold in his first appearance on Monday without allowing a baserunner over an inning of work. Tuesday night in Game 2 of the series, Macko followed Cease to the mound in the sixth and got two outs including his first strikeout in the bigs (vs. Jazz Chisholm Jr.) around a base hit to Ryan McMahon before Jays manager John Schneider pulled him for a right-hander with the Yankees bringing in a right-handed pinch hitter.

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MORE INJURY NEWS

That injury bug just won’t let the Blue Jays be.

The latest to join the injured list is left-handed reliever Joe Mantiply, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with left knee inflammation.

In a corresponding move, the Jays recalled right-handed reliever Chase Lee.

Mantiply is the 13^th Blue Jay this season to spend time on the injured list.

Ernie Clement has so far avoided the injured list, but he was out of action last night and, at least according to the team broadcast, being kept away from his teammates as he battles a case of strep throat.

With Clement out of the lineup, Davis Schneider got a start at second base.

mganter@postmedia.com

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