Yankees Beat Toronto 3-1 Despite Being Outhit 9-4

BRONX, N.Y. — The Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 on Friday night at Yankee Stadium in a game that illustrates how little raw hit totals explain. Toronto collected nine hits to New York's four and lost, going 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Spencer Jones supplied the difference with a two-run homer in the second inning. Cam Schlittler earned the win to move to 11-6, and David Bednar recorded his 30th save. Toronto's run came in the fifth on an Alejandro Kirk single that scored Brett Bateman, who finished 3-for-5. Spencer Arrighetti took the loss, falling to 7-6. Blue Jays manager John Schneider was direct about it afterward, saying his team simply needed the big hit and crediting Schlittler as one of the better pitchers in the league. That is the honest reading. Sequencing, not volume, decides most one-run games, and a team can be outhit by more than two to one and still deserve the win. The series continues this weekend in the Bronx, with Toronto expecting Vladimir Guerrero Jr. back from a concussion. These are division opponents, so head-to-head results carry more weight in the standings than the same record against anyone else would.

Background

The gap between hits and runs is the reason batting average has lost ground to on-base and slugging measures in how teams evaluate hitters. A single with nobody on and a single with two on are the same hit and very different events, and box-score hit totals treat them identically.

Why it matters: Games like this are the argument for watching the whole thing rather than reading the line score. The number that looked decisive was the one that didn't matter.

What to watch: The rest of the weekend series, and whether Guerrero's return changes Toronto's production with runners on.