New York

Yankees

LeMahieu was the hero in this one with his 10th inning single to win the game. There was a funny moment beforehand where the Blue Jays pulled Joey Loperfido in from the outfield to be a fifth infielder and they positioned him between the first and second basemen, where LeMahieu has hit a lot of ground balls this season. Of course, this one was smacked right up the middle and LeMahieu got the job done. It’s still been a disastrous season for the infielder.

Something has just felt off with Cole since coming back off the injured list. He only forced six swings-and-misses in this one, four of which came on his fastball. Interestingly enough, he went back to that fastball in this one instead of his cutter, which he’s leaned on in most of his starts this season. Still, the breakers don’t feel sharp and hitters are making contact more consistently against Cole than we’re used to seeing.

Verdugo has been a constant in the lineup for the Yankees — even when he hasn’t always performed offensively — and this is his first day out of the lineup since June. The left-hander will get a day of rest with Aaron Judge starting in left field.

The 28-year-old right-hander has been sidelined since the end of May with a right lat strain, but he’s progressing nicely in his recovery and nearing a return to the big-league rotation. After facing live hitters a couple of times it’s likely that he’ll need at least one — probably two — minor league rehab starts before he’s ready to return. If all goes according to plan, he should return before the end of August.

Judge is on pace to get extremely close to the 60-homer mark for the second time in his legendary career after taking Blue Jays starter José Berríos deep for his 41st round-tripper of the season. He’s gone deep six times over his last eight games and joins Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle as the only hitters in the franchise’s storied history to eclipse the 40-homer plateau in three seasons. The 32-year-old generational talent was intentionally walked with the bases empty and two outs his next time up in the ensuing frame and wound up reaching base safely in four of his five plate appearances.

As MLB.com’s Mike Petriello wrote on Saturday morning, Volpe has started swinging harder and pulling the ball in the air more often coming out of the Midsummer Classic. The slight change in approach from the all-fields mindset he employed earlier this year has resulted in five homers across 14 games since last month’s All-Star break. The 23-year-old slugged a two-run homer off Blue Jays starter José Berríos in the fifth inning and also tacked on an additional run-scoring single in the seventh inning as well.

Holmes fanned George Springer on four pitches to record the final out of the ninth inning, and pick up his 23rd save of the season, after newly-acquired Mark Leiter Jr. loaded the bases with three singles in the frame attempting to protect a five-run lead. We’re assuming the Yankees were hoping to avoid using Holmes in this situation, but fantasy managers will certainly take it.

Rodón finished with eight strikeouts and issued a pair of walks. He had little trouble carving up Toronto’s torn-down lineup with the notable exception of sizzling-hot Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who connected three hits off him in this one, including a gargantuan first-inning solo shot. The 31-year-old lefty has settled in nicely of late, allowing three earned runs or fewer in four straight starts since July 14. He’ll aim to keep things headed in the right direction on Friday when he faces the Rangers in another home outing.

It’s unclear what type of role Rizzo will occupy if he’s able to make it back to New York this season with rookie Ben Rice seemingly emerging as a legitimate option at the cold corner, despite some struggles of late. The 34-year-old veteran is still a ways off from a potential return. He’s been out since mid-June recovering from a right forearm fracture.

Hamilton has been on the injured list since mid-June due to a right lat strain and remains without a clear timetable to rejoin New York’s relief mix. The 29-year-old righty still needs to progress to facing hitters in a live batting practice session before he’s ready for game action.