Justin Smoak hits Blue Jays first-ever grand slam at either Yankee Stadium
The Blue Jays and Yankees entered their weekend series with the two hottest offenses in baseball. That led to visions of high-scoring, never-ending games that ran both teams pitching staffs into the ground and ruined their bullpens for the week ahead.
So far, though, the series has been the opposite of that. In fact, the first two games have been relatively low-scoring games mostly decided by one swing of the bat. In Toronto’s 6-0 win on Saturday, that one big swing also happened to be a surprising first in franchise history.
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With the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning, Toronto’s Justin Smoak took advantage of a struggling and tiring Ivan Nova by depositing his hanging breaking ball in the right field seats.
The grand slam was the first of Smoak’s six-year career, which is somewhat difficult to believe. He’s hit 84 career home runs overall. Even more difficult to believe? It was the first grand slam ever hit by a Blue Jays player at either Yankee Stadium in the franchise’s 39-year history.
That covers a lot of ground and a lot games, especially since baseball went to the unbalanced scheduled. The Blue Jays and Yankees have been in the same division throughout Toronto’s entire history. It’s just one of those weirds things that happens in baseball, but we know it’s true because the Elias Sports Bureau says so.
Also true: The Blue Jays are making a real run for the AL East crown. With Saturday’s win, they’ve won seven straight and 10 of 11 overall to pull within 2 1/2 games of New York. That’s the closest they’ve been since exactly one month ago on July 8.
The Blue Jays are also 10-0 in games started by Troy Tulowitzki, who homered in Saturday’s victory. They’re 2-0 in games started by David Price, who pitched seven scoreless innings. Everything they are touching and hitting lately is turning to gold. Should it continue, Toronto’s 21-year postseason drought, which is currently the longest in baseball, could easily end.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
