NEW YORK (AP) — Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit two-run homers off Yariel Rodríguez in the seventh inning, and the New York Yankees survived another shaky performance by David Bednar to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-6 Monday night as they opened a homestand against AL East rivals following a 2-7 trip.
Paul Goldschmidt drove in two runs, including a home run on Patrick Corbin’s first pitch of the game, and Bednar allowed a ninth-inning run before stranding a pair of runners by striking out George Springer and retiring Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a groundout.
Ernie Clement had four RBIs, including a three-run homer, and Springer hit his first home run since March 30 for the Blue Jays.
New York, which improved to 4-10 in one-run games, trailed 3-1 in the fourth inning and 5-3 in the seventh in its first game against Toronto since losing last year’s AL Division Series.
Aaron Judge singled off Rodríguez (0-1), who had just relieved with two outs, and Bellinger drove a low splitter into the Yankees bullpen in right-center. Pinch-hitter Trent Grisham walked and Chisholm sliced a slider down the left-field line.
He stood at the plate, watching and leaning to will the ball fair, and it clanked off the foul pole. Chisholm flipped his bat, turned to teammates in the dugout and pounded his chest, then made a basketball jump shot motion as he rounded the bases.
Paul Blackburn (2-1) pitched 1 2/3 innings of one-hit relief.
Bednar entered with a 7-5 lead and got his 11th save in 13 chances. The two-time All-Star walked Clement leading off and pinch-hitter Jesús Sánchez followed with an RBI double. Brandon Valenzuela struck out and rookie Yohendrick Pinangor walked, bringing up the top of Toronto’s batting order.
Clement put Toronto ahead 3-1 when in the fourth when reached for a Ryan Weathers changeup just 1.22 feet above the ground and drove it into the first row in left.
Toronto’s Adam Macko, a 25-year-old left-hander born in Slovakia, got three straight outs in his major league debut.
Yankees catcher Austin Wells was out of the starting lineup for the second straight day. He was 2 for 23 (.087) with 11 strikeouts on the trip, dropping his season average to .173 with five RBIs.
“Terrible,” Wells said before the game. “You can read the numbers, so it’s not good.”
Up next
Yankees RHP Will Warren (5-1, 3.42 ERA) and Blue Jays RHP Dylan Cease (3-1, 2.41) start Tuesday night.
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