NEW YORK _ There were reasons that the Yankees went into Saturday at .500 _ injuries, a bunch of them, short starts from their rotation, and a bullpen that hasn't been quite as good as originally expected.
But one thing is undeniably certain: These guys can hit.
The Yankees scored seven runs in the sixth and Jordan Montgomery had exactly the sort of performance this tired bullpen needed, as they turned aside Marcus Stroman and the Blue Jays, 9-1 at Yankee Stadium.
Aaron Judge went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and three RBIs, Miguel Andujar chipped in a three-run double, and Montgomery had a sterling performance, allowing one run on four hits over six innings, with three walks and five strikeouts.
Stroman was cruising until the third, when Judge broke up the no hitter and the shutout with one massive swing. With one on and two outs, Judge eviscerated Stroman's 92-mph fastball, sending it to the second deck in left at a rate of 116.1 mph to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.
It's the fourth time Judge has homered against Stroman, and Judge's sixth home run of the season. It's also the first of Judge's 62 career homers to be hit on a 3-and-0 count. Judge is also now hitting .438 in his career versus Stroman, with four walks.
After flirting with danger a few times, Montgomery finally coughed up a run in the fifth. He walked Randal Grichuk to lead off the inning, and allowed back-to-back singles to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Steve Pearce, to plate Grichuk, cutting the Yankees' lead to 2-1. He got the next three batters, though, and retired the side in order in the sixth as well, guaranteeing a shorter night for the bullpen, which tossed 101/3 innings in the last two days.
The Yankees finally got Stroman (0-2) on the ropes in the seven-run sixth, when he managed to face seven Yankees, but record only one out. With one run in and the bases loaded, Aaron Hicks hit a comebacker that Stroman fielded on the backhand and flipped to home plate, but Luke Maile dropped the throw and Judge scored on the catcher's error.
Two batters later, still with the bases loaded, Andujar hit a bases-clearing double to end the Stroman's afternoon and give the Yankees a 5-1 lead. Brett Gardner and Judge chipped in a sacrifice fly RBI and an RBI single, respectively, as the Yankees batted around.
The Yankees have now scored 108 runs this season, among the best in the majorss (though nowhere close to the Red Sox, who came into Saturday with 123 runs scored).
