As far as first games of the season go, the Toronto Blue Jays could not have asked for a better outcome than what they got on Monday afternoon in New York. On the strength of a five-run third inning and a strong pitching performance from starter Drew Hutchison (W: 1-0, 1.50 ERA), the Jays kicked off their 2015 campaign in style with a convincing 6-1 victory over the New York Yankees.
While Hutchison delivered six quality innings of three hit ball, Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka (L: 0-1, 9.00 ERA) was not able to match his counterpart's performance. The twenty-six year old right hander struck out six batters but lasted just four innings in surrendering four earned runs, including a towering two-run shot off the bat of Edwin Encarnacion(1) in the aforementioned third inning.
Blue Jays rookie second baseman Devon Travis (1) had a Major League debut he will not soon forget, scoring a couple of runs, drawing a pair of walks, and taking reliever Chasen Shreve over the left field wall for the first hit of his career with a seventh inning solo shot. As if the moment was not already special enough for the former Detroit Tigers prospect, the youngster also had the good fortune of having family in attendance to share the moment with him.
Russell Martin drove in a pair of runs courtesy of a third-inning single in his first official game in Blue Jays silks, and, as expected, he was his usual stellar self behind the plate. Toronto's big off-season free agent signing easily threw out Didi Gregorius on what was an ill-advised eighth-inning stolen base attempt by the Yankees' new shortstop. Martin also did a very nice job handling the trio of Hutchison, Aaron Loup and rookie Miguel Castro on the mound.
Outside of a bit of a shaky sixth inning, in which Blue Jays killer Brett Gardner (1) took Hutchison over the right field wall, the twenty-four year old was in complete control from the word go. The native of Lakeland, Florida, had great command of his fastball all afternoon and used a very effective breaking ball to keep Yankee hitters off balance throughout his six innings of work.