Yankees step up big time, whip out big bats to sweep Blue Jays

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Aaron Judge stole it, Gio Urshela saved it and Giancarlo Stanton sealed it. The Yankees rallied for a 8-4 win over the Blue Jays at Sahlen Field Thursday night.

It was the third straight win for the Yankees, who took their third series sweep of the year and their first on the road. It came at a cost, however, with shortstop Gleyber Torres leaving the game in the fourth inning with “left, lower-back soreness” and the ominous announcement he will undergo further evaluation on Friday.

Urshela homered and made two great defensive plays on the Yankees’ second triple-play of the season. Judge made an amazing, jumping, home-run robbing play and Stanton put one out of reach as the Yankees clawed their way back for the win.

That showed Judge something that this team had been missing.

“Big time,” Judge said of this being an important series for them. “Think that shows what this team is made of. This whole year when we got down early we’ve been pretty flat. That is not the team we are. We’re a team that can come back 5-0, 3-0, doesn’t matter with this team. We started to show that a little bit in the Red Sox series, even though we didn’t do our job. This series against a good club like this that’s had our number all year and we take care of business.”

Judge made an incredible leaping grab at the right field fence, skying with his head above the fence, reaching back and bringing back what Cavan Biggio and everyone at this Triple-A ballpark thought was a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth.

Instead, it set up a huge inning for the Yankees against a horrible Blue Jays bullpen. Rougned Odor, who came in for Torres led off with a single and Stanton lined his 13th homer of the season over the right field fence. The Yankees added on with Chris Gittens, who got his first major league hit (a home run) here two nights before, getting a pinch-hit, two-run single.

Gittens brought home another in the ninth on a sacrifice fly.

It was a huge comeback on a night when spot starter Michael King had his best start since stepping into Corey Kluber’s place. That still meant he allowed three runs on five hits and two walks over 4.1 innings pitched.

He was saved by the Yankees second triple-play of the season.

King was in trouble in the first with two on and in scoring position when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a come-backer. The Yankees pitcher checked the runner at third and then fired off to first for the out. Marcus Semien at third hesitated giving LeMahieu a chance to throw to Torres at third base to get the Blue Jays second baseman in a run down. After Urshela tagged Semien, he turned and fired back to third base where Torres got Bo Bichette.

The last triple play they turned was on May 21 against the White Sox. It is the first time the Bombers have turned two in a single season.

The Yankees left the bases loaded in the second, scoring just one run on Miguel Andujar’s fielder’s choice. Torres and Judge struck out to end the inning. Urshela gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead in the third with a two-run home run, his eighth homer of the season.

Lucas Luetge gave up a run on a ground-out in the fifth.

Judge said that these comeback in this series is a turning point. They had come into this road trip spiraling and almost bottomed out when they got swept in a two-game series against the Phillies. It was time to look in the mirror.

“Enough is enough. We’re better than this. We know we’re better than this. We gotta raise our standard fellas,” Judge said before the game. “I think once we kind of talked to each other and just kind of had some honest conversations, I think everybody kind of honed it in a little bit.

“Everyone might have been sitting there like hey, it’ll eventually get there, eventually we’ll get there. Well, eventually gotta happen right now,” Judge said. “We know that as a team and I know it’s a long season we’re still not even halfway yet but guys are just being accountable and I think we’re starting to see that.”