Blue Jays showing they mean business with blowout win over reeling Yankees

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NEW YORK – Kevin Gausman looks back at it with bemusement now, the moments when he was first asked to talk about the 2022 Blue Jays season.

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Expectations, shall we say, were not unlike they are here for the folks who reside in Yankee Stadium every season.

So don’t think that coming into the Bronx didn’t mean a little something extra to the Jays, a Big Apple burst of inspiration that surely helped them in a blowout 9-2 win on a successful Thursday night return to the Bronx.

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Even given the recent wobbles of the AL East-leading Yanks, it was a resounding victory for a team looking to regain some momentum after some recent struggles of its own.

That and to get ready for some serious baseball ahead as the quarter-pole nears.

“We’ve had pressure since Day 1 of spring training,” Gausman said. “When we got (Matt) Chapman (in March) it was like it was World Series or bust. We can’t start playing differently now because everybody is talking about the pressure.”

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The series here won’t make or break what the Jays are trying to accomplish as the standings and the permutations of the post-season race will shuffle almost daily. And it likely won’t bring visions of a division title either, as the margin from Jays to Yanks remains nine games heading into Friday.

But if there is such a thing as a statement opportunity with more than 40 games remaining, perhaps this weekend is it.

One thing is clear — the Jays seem determined to make a statement and got a start on it in the opener.

“You do kind of realize that stuff, where we are in the year, with just over a month left,” said Jays closer Jordan Romano, who pitched the ninth on Thursday, with a fastball touching 99 miles per hour. “It would be a good series to kind of let these guys know we can play with them, that we can beat them.”

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For the most part, players are conditioned to not getting too high (or too low) in the approach to such a small slice of the schedule. But the Jays came into this set with a 4-8 mark against the Yankees so far this season. Based on the matchups heading into Thursday’s play, a second-round series would starter here in the Bronx, an oft-feared grounds for October baseball.

“You can even feel it, too,” Romano said of the significance ratcheting up. “You wake up in the morning and you have that little extra adrenaline. It’s going to be a huge four games here and we need to start playing some good ball in a tough place to play.

“The time is kind of now.”

It’s a feeling choked by Gausman, who will get his say on Friday when he faces the Yankees Jameson Taillon.

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“I think if we can come in here and really beat the crap out of them, we’d definitely make a statement,” Gausman said. “Obviously they’ve been scuffling a little bit. If we are able to keep that going, we could put them in a tough spot going towards the last month of the season.”

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YUSEI CAN YOU SEE

Failed starter Yusei Kikuchi didn’t have to waste any time to make his debut as an MLB reliever.

With the Jays up 9-2 after seven, manager John Schneider found the soft spot he wanted to see what the lefty had out of the pen.

“We’ll tread lightly at first and see where we are,” Schneider said before the game.

It started out all too familiar for the troubled southpaw after he allowed the first two batters to reach via walk and a single. Kikuchi retired the next three, however, striking out a pair, including Yanks rookie Oswaldo Cabrera to end it.

The optimistic view from the Jays camp is that they have a lefty who might throw 99 miles per hour from the pen and thus might be useful.

Bottom line is that Kikuchi will have to earn that trust, however.