Toronto beat New York 4-1 on Saturday behind a tiebreaking seventh-inning double from Charles McAdoo, and the Blue Jays injury news that landed hours before first pitch is the part that lingers: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went on the seven-day concussion injured list, and the lineup that had to cover for him won anyway. That is 13 wins in the last 19 games for a team that keeps finding a different guy to do the finishing.
McAdoo had two hits on the day. Only one of them mattered in the way baseball measures mattering, the double in the seventh that broke a tie and turned a tight, quiet game into a Blue Jays win. That is the kind of at-bat that follows a young hitter around for a while.
What happened in Blue Jays vs Yankees on Saturday?
Game 2 of the series was the sort of thing you get in mid-August between two clubs who know each other's arms too well. One run apart into the seventh. Then McAdoo drove the ball into the gap, the Blue Jays tacked on, and the Yankees never answered.
| The line on Saturday | Number |
|---|---|
| Final score | Blue Jays 4, Yankees 1 |
| McAdoo's day | 2 hits, tiebreaking RBI double in the 7th |
| Toronto's last 19 games | 13 wins |
Three numbers, one story. Toronto has been the better version of itself for a month now, and it did this one without its best hitter in the box.
Blue Jays injury news: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the concussion IL
The club placed Guerrero on the seven-day concussion injured list. Seven days is the floor, not the ceiling, and anyone who has watched a concussion case play out knows the calendar is a suggestion. The player comes back when the player comes back.
checked the almanac: baseball did not even have a seven-day concussion list until 2011. Before that a guy got his bell rung, sat a day, and was told to shake it off. The fact that this is now a routine roster transaction instead of a debate is one of the quietly good things the sport has done to itself.
What it costs Toronto in the meantime is obvious. Guerrero is the middle of the order, the guy pitchers plan their sixth inning around. Saturday was the first real look at the answer, and the answer was McAdoo with the bat on his shoulder in the seventh.
What is next for the Yankees and Aaron Judge
New York's version of the same waiting game is further along. Aaron Judge played catch and ran in New York on Friday, the first throwing of his rehab from a broken right rib. Playing catch is not a rehab assignment and a rehab assignment is not a lineup card, but it is the first domino, and ribs heal on their own schedule regardless of how the standings look.
The Yankees have now dropped Game 2 of this series and go to Sunday needing a split. First pitch is 1:38 PM ET in Toronto, the finale of a set that has been played almost entirely in one-run territory.
What I am watching next
Two things. Whether Toronto's lineup keeps producing that seventh-inning at-bat from somewhere other than the four-hole, because that is what a seven-day IL stint actually tests. And the next update on Guerrero, since seven days is the minimum and nothing about a concussion timeline is promised to anyone.
Sunday afternoon in Toronto tells us a little more. Not everything. A little more.