Ace RHP Gerrit Cole cruised as the Yankees took down the Blue Jays, 8-3, on the road Sunday.
Takeaways from the game
1) Cole had everything working for him in one of his last spring outings before his Opening Day start. Facing the team that he will see next Thursday, April 1, Cole collected eight strikeouts over five innings of work. He did allow a solo homer to Marcus Semien in his final inning, but only three other scattered hits were sprinkled in there. Cole will look to hit around 78 pitches again in his last spring start in five days before gearing up for Opening Day.
2) The Yanks got off to a hot start, as Tanner Roark felt the pain in the first inning when New York put up a four spot. Luke Voit and Clint Frazier had back-to-back RBI doubles to make it a 3-0 game. Derek Dietrich hit an RBI single to score Frazier right after that, too.
3) Frazier’s hot spring continued after he was pulled out of the lineup on Saturday because Aaron Boone said he was “sluggish.” He went 2 for 4 with those two RBI and run scored. He’s hitting .321 now.
4) Thairo Estrada had an opposite-field bomb to put three runs on the board in the top of the third inning. Estrada needed that in a 1-for-3 day with two runs scored, as he’s hitting just .190 this spring.
5) Tyler Wade also had a multi-hit day with an RBI. He knocked a double and his single in the eighth brought home more insurance.
6) Luke Luetge had his first bad outing of the spring, allowing two runs in 1.1 innings of work. He still had two strikeouts, but Luetge has been able to keep runs off the board when he comes in from the bullpen. Still, his ERA sits at 2.35 on the spring.
Highlights
What’s Next
A night game from George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., is set for Monday at 6:35 p.m. against the Philadelphia Phillies.