Gary Sanchez delivers off bench, hits go-ahead home run to lift Yankees over Blue Jays

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BUFFALO, N.Y. — Gary Sanchez had not caught Gerrit Cole since opening day. The Yankee ace had made it clear that he preferred backup catcher Kyle Higashioka last year and it carried over to this season. So, even with his offense making small steps toward a turnaround, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he didn’t really think about having his hottest hitter in the lineup.

Well, Sanchez gave him reason to re-think those plans. The much-maligned catcher came off the bench in top of the seventh and crushed a go-ahead home run as the Yankees beat the Blue Jays, 3-2, at Sahlen Field.

It was the second straight victory for the Yankees (35-32) after three straight losses. Sanchez homered for the second straight night. He’s hitting .339 with five home runs and 11 RBIs in his last 15 games.

Still, Boone didn’t think about shaking up Cole by changing his batterymate.

“No, again, he’s going to need a day off here in this stretch of games and I obviously like the Higgy and Cole pairing, and it kind of builds in a natural day in there,” the Yankees manager said. “And, obviously, Gary will be ready, anytime in the game if we get a big spot and we need his bat.”

After loading the bases with no outs in the first against Blue Jays starter Ross Stripling, the Yankees managed to score just one run. Then Stripling retired 14 straight.

With the Yankees trailing by a run, Miguel Andujar led off the seventh with a single, and with one out, Boone pinch-hit Sanchez for Higashioka. Sanchez took a Stripling curveball that hung over the plate and sent it deep to left field, outside this minor league ballpark, clearing the street behind it.

The YES Network cameras caught video of the dugout, including Higashioka, going wild after Sanchez’s home run, while Cole did not crack a smile, which was pointed out by analyst David Cone.

Sanchez’s 10th homer of the season gave Cole, who had given up solo home runs to Marcus Semien and Cavan Biggio, the win. Sanchez caught two of Cole’s eight innings, with the ace shaking him off a few times.

The Yankees ace really hasn’t had a lot to smile about lately.

Cole, who allowed five home runs in his first 11 starts, has allowed five in his last three. Under scrutiny with MLB’s sudden crackdown on illegal sticky stuff, Cole has not been his dominant self in his last three starts. The right-hander has allowed nine earned runs in 18 innings for a 4.26 ERA. He pitched to a 1.78 ERA over his first 11 games with 97 strikeouts and nine walks.

With four strikeouts and a walk Wednesday night, Cole has 20 strikeouts and five walks in his last three starts.

Having been called out by Trevor Bauer for his jump in spin rate in Houston and then called out by Josh Donaldson for the sudden decline in that rate when MLB suspended four minor league pitchers for using illegal sticky stuff, Cole has been uncomfortable in the spotlight of the controversy. He had a disastrous press conference before his last start when he refused to answer directly whether he used the illegal substance Spider Tack.

So, the Yankees clearly weren’t going to try to take him out of his comfort zone.

The Yankees made the switch to the Cole-Higashioka battery in September. The Yankee ace went 5-1 with a 1.79 ERA and a .165 batting average against in seven starts with Higashioka behind the plate. In his first eight starts of 2020, with Sanchez behind the plate, Cole went 4-2 with a 3.91 ERA and a .224 opponents batting average.

Aroldis Chapman, who has suffered two walk-off losses in his previous three appearances, should be very happy with Sanchez, who spared him another blown save. With runners on second and third in the ninth, after Chapman made a bad throw home on a comebacker, Sanchez made a tremendous throw to third to get the runner.

But the bottom line is that if Sanchez had not had an awful year at the plate last season, he would not have lost playing time to Higashioka.

Sanchez slashed .147/.253/.365 with 64 strikeouts in 156 at-bats last season.

Now that Sanchez’s bat it back on track, it’s hard not to at least think about keeping it in the lineup, even on the night’s Cole pitches.