Louis Varland: Rice and Caballero power Yankees past Blue Jays 8-3
louis varland came into focus only after the New York Yankees turned a tied game into an 8-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon. Ben Rice and Jose Caballero each homered in the ninth, and the late burst ended what had been a one-run game.
The Yankees trailed by the narrowest possible margin before Rice hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth. Caballero followed with a three-run shot, and the inning flipped the game from tense to finished in a hurry.
Rice and Caballero in the ninth
Rice’s homer came after Paul Goldschmidt reached on an infield single and moved to second on Braydon Fisher’s throwing error. That set the table for the inning’s first swing, and Caballero’s homer gave New York the margin that made the final score look more comfortable than the game had been for most of the afternoon.
Anthony Volpe also drove in two runs and scored another for the Yankees. Camilo Doval worked a clean eighth inning in relief and got the win, while Fisher took the loss for Toronto.
Toronto’s lineup thinned out
Toronto had already lost some punch before the first pitch. Andres Gimenez was removed from the starting lineup about two hours before first pitch because of left wrist soreness, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was scratched for a second straight game because of back tightness.
Even so, the Blue Jays had chances to stay in it. Davis Schneider hit a solo home run, Toronto tied the game 2-2 in the fourth inning, and the Blue Jays tied it again in the bottom of the sixth after the Yankees had taken the lead back.
Series pressure on both clubs
The Yankees led 2-0 after the second inning and improved to 17-6 against left-handed starting pitchers this season. Patrick Corbin started for Toronto, and Clement extended his hitting streak to 10 games against New York dating back to the 2025 American League Division Series.
The result sent New York into Tuesday night’s home series against the Chicago White Sox with its second straight win after dropping Friday’s opener of the three-game set. Toronto opened a three-game series against the Red Sox in Boston on Tuesday, carrying a loss that turned on one ninth inning and two swings.
