TORONTO — Jameson Taillon signaled to the Yankees dugout, and a moment later he was headed toward the visiting clubhouse at Rogers Centre.
A re-aggravation of Taillon’s right ankle injury the right-hander out of Tuesday’s start in the third inning.
But if this critical three-game series opener against the Blue Jays was to end up as a battle of bullpens, the Yankees held all the advantages.
Sure enough, Michael King and Clay Holmes held it together long enough for Giancarlo Stanton to strike again.
Stanton clouted a three-run homer in the seventh inning, busting open a close game and sending the Yankees to a 7-2 victory, their seventh straight win during a crucial stretch.
Out of the designated hitter's spot, Stanton has homered in four straight games. He also has five homers in his last six games and seven in his last 10 games.
Just before Stanton’s latest tour of the bases, news of the Orioles’ 4-2 win against the Red Sox flashed on the out-of-town scoreboard.
Coming off a three-game sweep of the Sox at Fenway Park — with Stanton belting three homers, with 10 RBIs to earn AL Player of the Week honors — the Yanks now hold a two-game wild-card edge on Boston.
And with five games to play, the Yankees (90-67) have a three-game lead over Toronto (87-70).
Still on a tear
Until his fourth at-bat Tuesday, Stanton was having a quiet 0-for-3 night during the Yankees’ first visit to Rogers Centre since 2019, due to the pandemic.
An extra 10,000-plus fans were accommodated for this series, with capacity expanded here beginning this week.
And just as he unplugged the loud crowds at Fenway with his late, game-changing home runs, Stanton silenced the 28,769 fans here with one swing.
The Yankees held a slim, 3-2 lead with two out when Stanton unloaded against Trevor Richards, Toronto’s third reliever following lefty Hyun Jin Ryu’s exit after 4 1/3 innings.
Before Stanton smashed his 35th homer of the year, Aaron Judge had been the Yankees’ Tuesday MVP, with a single, solo homer and a sacrifice fly.
Judge’s two-out walk set up Stanton’s homer off Richards’ 2-2 change-up. In his final at-bat, Stanton smacked a double to deep right-center field.
Judge OK, concern for Taillon
For Judge, his Tuesday performance offered proof that he was fine after Sunday night’s slightly scary moment at Fenway Park, when he had to pop his dislocated pinky back into place following a head-first slide.
But Taillon’s re-aggravated ankle injury might cost him more than the three weeks he missed following his original injury during a Sept. 6 start.
“My goal was to pitch before the end of the (regular season) and we did everything in our power to make that happen. I feel ready for it,’’ Taillon said leading into Tuesday’s start.
His immediate goal against a dangerous Blue Jays lineup was “just to keep them at bay,’’ and get a lead to the Yankees’ reinforced bullpen.
Following a two-out, RBI single by Bo Bichette in the first inning, Taillon had retired five straight batters — concluding with a strikeout of Danny Jansen — when he abruptly exited a 1-1 game.
Start to finish
Taillon lasted 2 1/3 innings, charged with one run, while Ryu was charged with three runs over 4 1/3 innings.
Judge fought back from an 0-2 count against Ryu before blasting his 37th homer of the year — sending a 3-2 pitch the opposite way, making it 1-1.
Corey Dickerson’s two-out, RBI double off King gave Toronto a 2-1 lead in the fourth, but the Yanks went ahead 3-2 in the fifth on Anthony Rizzo’s opposite-field RBI single off Ryu and Judge’s sac fly against Adam Cimber.
Holmes, Chad Green and Luis Severino were one-inning bridges until the ninth, when Gio Urshela tacked on a solo homer and Wandy Peralta registered the final three outs.
