The Yankees are no longer sole owners of first place in American League East standings.
They now move into second place behind the Toronto Blue Jays after their neighbors up north scored seven first-inning runs in a 11-9 win over the Bombers at Rogers Centre on Wednesday night. The two teams share identical records, but Toronto owns the tie-breaker.
The Yankees fell behind 8-0 but were able to come all the way back in the top of the eighth after Aaron Judge slugged his 31st homer of the season, but the home team later scored two more in the bottom half to secure the win.
George Springer scored the go-ahead run — on Devin Williams’ wild pitch — and Addison Barger added an insurance run to secure the win.
And the Bombers relinquished the division lead after holding it since April 14.
The offensive barrage began as Yankees starter Will Warren ran into trouble early, loading the bases with no outs.
Alejandro Kirk’s two-run single put the first runs on the board, then Barger’s three-run homer made the score 5-0.
The Yankees’ deficit later stretched to seven after No. 8 hitter Davis Schneider blasted a homer that bounced off the center-field batter’s eye.
Warren allowed another run in the third inning — an Andres Gimenez RBI single — and was charged for eight total, tying a career-worst mark he notched against the Los Angeles Angels last season.
In Wednesday’s loss, the right-hander allowed 10 hits, four walks and struck out four in four innings of work.
The righty’s poor performance put his team too far behind despite a fifth-inning surge headlined by Giancarlo Stanton’s first home run of the season.
Stanton’s three-run homer — against Toronto’s Jose Berrios — knocked out the Blue Jays starter and contributed to the six runs scored in the frame.
DJ LeMahieu, Ben Rice and Judge all recorded RBI hits in the frame and helped the Yankees record five consecutive hits in the comeback attempt.
But with the deficit at two with a runner on second, Jasson Dominguez grounded out to end the inning.
All of the six fifth-inning runs were charged to Berrios, who allowed nine hits and no walks in the outing. He also struck out three over 4.1 innings.
The Yankees inched closer in the following frame after LeMahieu scored on a fielder’s choice, but couldn’t tie the game as Stanton hit an inning-ending flyout with two runners in scoring position.
Schneider struck again in the seventh with a solo homer to extend the Blue Jays’ lead, 9-7. But Judge followed with his moonshot — on an 0-2 count — in the eighth to tie the game at nine.
The Yankees battled back in a game that could’ve been conceded early after Warren’s ugly start. But the Blue Jays were determined not to waste Wednesday’s early runs.
Judge’s game-tying homer didn’t last long with Springer and Barger coming through in the end.
Wednesday’s loss puts the Yankees at risk of being swept in Thursday’s season finale.
In that matchup, Clarke Schmidt is schedule to face off against Chris Bassitt.
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