Blue Jays make booming statement in the Bronx by drubbing Yankees

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The first weekend of September is as good a time as any to serve notice of what type of baseball team you are.

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And Yankee Stadium and all the frenzy it can bring with playoff implications at stake is as big a stage as there is with which to amplify it.

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The Toronto Blue Jays seized that opportunity in a multitude of ways on Friday night in the Bronx, unleashing what had to be one of their most complete efforts of the season in a resounding statement of a 7-1 win over the sluggish New York Yankees.

The Blue Jays had no sympathy for their weary opponents, punishing them offensively while starter Kevin Gausman gave the type of performance that will undoubtedly make his team salivate about the possibilities of that right arm firing in October.

And then there was Vlad Guerrero Jr., who is heating up at just the right time and put on another show at a stadium that has been his favourite road venue thus far in his career.

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It’s clear the Jays arrived at the Bronx not intending to hold serve on their three-game lead in the AL East, but to expand upon it. That’s what good teams do and the Jays not only see themselves as that type of a squad, but are playing like it right now.

Riding a surging offence, the Jays have put up 32 runs in what is now a three-game winning streak, an output that has given the pitching staff a much appreciated breather.

Some takeaways from a big win that pushed the Jays record to 82-59 and 8-3 this season against the Yankees, who are now four games in arrears of the the division leaders.

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GOOD ON GAUS

Gausman, who has seemed rejuvenated since the all star break, has rarely been better as a Blue Jay than he was on Friday in his 28th start of the season.

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A solo home run given up to Giancarlo Stanton in the second was the only hit he allowed until a lead-off single to Aaron Judge in the seventh.

Throughout, Gausman was pinpoint in his accuracy while his fastball was up a full mile per hour, averaging 95.4 and peaking at 97.6.

And at the first sign of potential trouble, Gausman dug in. When Stanton also singled in the seventh with one out, Gausman struck out Jazz Chisholm Jr. and induced a weak pop-up from Paul Goldschmidt to end the modest threat.

Gausman’s splitter was lethal for much of the night, prompting manager John Schneider to allow him to pitch into the eighth where he allowed a two-out single, just his fourth hit of the night.

With a pitch count of 105, Gausman struck out five while walking just one.

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It was certainly a much more Gausman-like outing than his previous visit to Yankee Stadium back in April when he didn’t make it out of the third inning after allowing six runs on three hits and five walks.

DON’T SLEEP ON IT

The subtle side of the opportunity in front of the Jays was exploited to the fullest. After the Toronto players enjoyed an off-day in New York on Thursday, the Yankees were playing a night game in Houston and their charter flight home didn’t land until almost 4:30 a.m.

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The Jays showed no mercy, attacking starter Cam Schlittler early and jumping out to a 4-0 lead after their half of the second.

Clearly prepared for the challenge that awaited, the Jays wasted no time taking control of the opener of the three-game series and setting up the opportunity to come closer to burying the Yankees as the clock on the season ticks down.

Prior to the game, Schneider proclaimed that his team is in the driver’s seat of the divisional race. On Friday they played like it as they won for the fourth time in their past five.

BAT CRAZY

In the early going of his abbreviated start, anyway, Schlittler wasn’t pitching poorly — he was just being attacked relentlessly by Jays batters who have taken contact hitting to an elite level.

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They savaged Schlittler with a 40-pitch first inning that included a 10-pitch walk from Kirk and an RBI double from Bo Bichette on eight pitches. Hitter after hitter stayed alive with foul balls, easily frustrating Schittler, who was still hitting his spots.

Worn down from that opening frame, Schlittler didn’t even make it out of the second, retiring just a pair of hitters before getting the hook after throwing 66 pitches.

GET HOT VLAD

Guerrero was 3-for-3 in his first trips to the plates, the latter of those, a fifth inning solo homer to increase the Jays lead to 5-1.

The opposite-field shot was his 22nd career blast against the Yankees but of greater note, his 16th in 46 games at Yankee Stadium. He put together his second four-hit game of the season.

The best news about Guerrero getting hot right about now is obvious, of course. His 23rd homer of the season has continued a steady surge since the all-star break as he’s showing much more of his power potential than he had earlier in the season.

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