Yankees Blue Jays problems persist in ugly end to win streak

TORONTO — Ryan Weathers is the only member of the Yankees pitching staff who was not in the organization the last time they played here before Friday.But the left-hander sure looked a lot like the rest of his teammates did over the course of last year when playing north of the border.The Blue Jays beat up on Weathers early, taking him deep twice in the first two innings to worsen his home-run problem, and then hung on to hand the Yankees an 8-5 loss that snapped their four-game winning streak Friday night at sold-out Rogers Centre.Combined with Trey Yesavage having his way with the Yankees early, the game had shades of 2025, when Aaron Boone’s club went 1-6 here during the regular season and 0-2 in the AL Division Series.Weathers, who has given up nine home runs over his last five starts and 15 overall, lasted just 4 ¹/₃ innings while giving up six runs.He has given up at least five runs in four of his last five starts, with the long ball central to those struggles.The Yankees actually got to Yesavage, who had thrown 11 ¹/₃ shutout innings and given up just three base runners across two career starts against them (including a dominant performance here in Game 2 of the ALDS), but it proved to be too little, too late.

They trailed 5-0 in the fifth inning when they pushed across three runs and then 7-3 in the sixth when they added two more.To make matters worse, the Yankees lost one of their hottest hitters, Trent Grisham, in the sixth inning as he left the game with right hamstring tightness after taking second on a two-run single that pulled them within 7-5.The Yankees later threatened to complete the comeback, loading the bases in the seventh inning before Ryan McMahon flew out to end the threat.The Blue Jays’ first rally off Weathers began in the bottom of the first, when Ernie Clement reached on a swinging bunt and then took second on a wild pitch with two outs.Yankee killer Alejandro Kirk (3-for-3, walk, two RBIs), in his first game back after missi...