It didn't take long for the Toronto Blue Jays to get into the New York Yankees' bullpen.
New York opted to remove Game 1 starter Luis Gil with two outs in the third inning after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled for his second hit of the contest.
Gil was lifted in favour of left-handed reliever Tim Hill after allowing four hits and two runs — solo homers by Guerrero and Alejandro Kirk — while striking out two.
The reigning AL Rookie of the Year tossed 48 pitches, averaging 95.8 m.p.h. with his fastball, but struggled to put away Blue Jays hitters with two strikes.
“It just felt like a lot of good swings were starting to happen," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said on the Fox broadcast. "We were coming to a tough part of the order, where I like Timmy Hill through that to just hold it down, keep it where it is.
"Never an easy call, especially with a guy as talented as Luis. (He) certainly could have been capable of going through there, but one you gotta make."
The Blue Jays ultimately poured it on late against the back-end of the Yankees' bullpen on their way to a 10-1 series-opening victory.
"Defintely not the outing we wanted. Not the result we wanted at all," Gil said post-game. "That being said, I think we had a really good plan of attack tonight. But obviously, not the results we wanted."
Gil wasn't included on the Yankees' roster for their Wild Card Series win over the Boston Red Sox, but was tabbed to start Game 1 of the ALDS with Max Fried, Carlos Rodón and Cam Schlittler all unavailable to pitch.
The 27-year-old Gil pitched just 57 innings for New York during the regular season, posting a 3.32 ERA, but his strikeout numbers were way down from his successful 2024.
Hill was brought in to face Blue Jays third baseman Addison Barger, who reached via an infield single. The Yankees southpaw then escaped the inning by getting Kirk to ground out.
It's undoubtedly a major win for Toronto to get to New York's shaky bullpen so early in the best-of-five. The more often batters can see opposing relievers in the post-season, the more likely they are to find success in those matchups later in the series.
