Toronto Blue Jays vs New York Yankees

The game was a taut pitchers' duel through the middle innings. Yankees starter Ryan Weathers and Toronto's Dylan Cease traded zeroes before the visitors scratched across the game's first run in the third. José Caballero drew a leadoff walk, stole second and third — his 30th steal of the season — and scored on Luis García Jr.'s sacrifice fly to left.

Toronto answered in the fifth. Kazuma Okamoto led off with a double to deep centre and scored when Daz Cameron followed with an RBI double to left, knotting the game at 1–1.

The Yankees reclaimed the lead in the seventh. George Lombard Jr. walked, stole second and moved to third on a groundout. Caballero then singled him home — but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double, ending the inning.

That 2–1 lead held until the bottom of the ninth. Blue Jays pinch-runner Josh Smith scored from third on Ernie Clement's sacrifice fly to centre off Yankees closer David Bednar, tying the game at 2–2 and sending it to extras.

With the automatic runner on second to start the 10th, Sánchez advanced to third on a groundout. Rice — who had gone hitless in his first four at-bats — then deposited Fisher's 0–1 pitch over the wall in right-centre for his team-leading 33rd home run of the season.

The blast swung the win probability decisively and gave the Yankees breathing room they would need after Giménez's RBI single in the bottom half made it a one-run game.

Ben Rice, 1B, Yankees: 1-for-5, HR (33), 2 RBI. Quiet for nine innings, then delivered the biggest swing of the game when it mattered most.

Ryan Weathers, P, Yankees: 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO. The lefty held the Blue Jays to one run over 7⅓ innings on 95 pitches, lowering his ERA to 3.56.

Dylan Cease, P, Blue Jays: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 10 SO. Struck out 10 Yankees and recorded his 200th strikeout of the season before departing with the game tied 1–1. Cease was named Player of the Game for the Blue Jays.

David Bednar, P, Yankees: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 1 SO. Picked up the win (6–3) despite allowing the game-tying sac fly in the ninth — a run that was unearned due to a Ben Rice error.

The box score shows each team with six hits, but the distribution tells the story. The Yankees struck out 12 times against Blue Jays pitching (10 from Cease alone) and managed only two hits through the first seven innings. Their 4–3 win came on two runs in the 10th off Fisher, the fourth Blue Jays pitcher of the afternoon. Toronto's bullpen entered with a 2.85 ERA over the prior 15 games and had been excellent, but Fisher's one bad pitch — a belt-high fastball to Rice — was decisive.

The Blue Jays stranding six runners and going 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, per the game log, cost them a chance to complete the sweep.

The Yankees avoided falling three games behind in the AL East standings and improved to 69–55, keeping pace in the divisional race. Toronto dropped to 61–65 after taking two of three in the series. The Blue Jays — who had Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the 7-day IL entering this series (recalled Daz Cameron to replace him) — have lost three of four overall.

New York returns home to host the Cleveland Guardians on Monday, 17 August. The Blue Jays travel to face the Baltimore Orioles on the same day, looking to stop a slide that has seen them win just four of their last 11.

A classic extra-inning AL East chess match decided by one swing. Cease and Weathers delivered ace-level starts, but the game turned on Fisher's inability to locate against Rice with the game on the line. The Yankees will take the momentum; the Blue Jays will rue a missed sweep opportunity.