NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Pinch-hitter Ernie Clement had a tiebreaking solo home run off Caleb Ferguson leading off the seventh inning, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Yankees 3-0 Friday in New York鈥檚 home opener.
鈥淭he Toronto faithful may not like this but I was the biggest Yankees fan growing up, so I鈥檓 glad we could kick their (butt)," said Clement, who grew up in Rochester, New York.
A 28-year-old who appeared in just 35 major league games over the previous two seasons, Clement drove the second pitch from Ferguson (0-1) into the left-field seats for his first career pinch homer. He was the first Toronto pinch hitter to give the Blue Jays the lead from the seventh inning on since Justin Smoak at Miami on Aug. 31, 2018.
鈥淚 just like to keep it simple,鈥 Clement said. 鈥淚鈥檓 up there looking for a fastball to drive and do damage on, and he laid one in there and I鈥檓 just glad I could come through for these guys.鈥
, slamming his bat and helmet after making the final out of the eighth.
He bowed to fans in right field in the top of the first and was greeted with a standing ovation when he came to the plate in the bottom half. Soto is in a 1-for-16 slide after a 9-for-17 start.
鈥淛ust frustration that comes out,鈥 Soto said. 鈥淵ou want to do so (many) things for this fan base and get your team going, and you have the chance to do it and couldn鈥檛 get it done. It really gets you mad. And at the end of the day, that鈥檚 my fault, shouldn't do that, but things happen.鈥
Marcus Stroman matched Yusei Kikuchi with shutout ball before the bullpens took over. Kikuchi gave up four hits in 5 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts.
He played catch in Central Park on Thursday's day off.
鈥淚t鈥檚 my fifth time doing it and I feel like a Central Parker now,鈥 Kikuchi said through a translator. 鈥淚 found the biggest rock, because I can, and I did some visualization from the top of that top rock.鈥
Nick Burdi threw a pair of run-scoring wild pitches in the ninth, prompting boos from the sellout crowd of 47,812.
Yimi Garc铆a (1-0) got the final two outs of the sixth and G茅nesis Cabrera retired two batters in his first appearance since a three-game suspension for causing a benches-clearing incident at Tampa Bay last weekend. Trevor Richards struck out the side in the eighth and Chad Green got his first save since 2022 with the Yankees as Toronto pitched a six-hitter to start the last leg of an opening 10-game trip.
After beginning 6-1 on the road, New York dropped to 81-40-1 in home openers. The Yankees were shut out in a home opener for the first time since 1967.
Giancarlo Stanton was 0 for 4 and is hitting .120 (3 for 25) with 13 strikeouts.
An earthquake about three hours before game time wasn鈥檛 felt by most of the Yankees on the field for batting practice.
Stroman allowed three hits in six innings. He has not allowed an earned run in 12 innings this season.
Cheered when he was introduced, Paul O鈥橬eill drew boos when he bounced the ceremonial first pitch to Don Mattingly, now Toronto鈥檚 bench coach, in pairing of former Yankees stars.
Toronto selected the contract of right-hander Paolo Espino from Triple-A Buffalo and designated right-hander Wes Parsons for assignment.
TRAINER鈥橲 ROOM
Blue Jays: CF Kevin Kiermaier was removed from the lineup shortly before game time because of lower back tightness but entered as a defensive replacement in the eighth. ... Closer Jordan Romano, on the IL since March 25 with right elbow inflammation, threw a bullpen session Thursday. ... RHP Erik Swanson, on the IL since March 25 with right forearm inflammation, pitched batting practice Thursday. ... C Danny Jansen (broken right wrist on March 13) caught Swanson. ... RHP Alek Manoah (right shoulder inflammation) is to throw about 65 pitches in a game Sunday at Dunedin, Florida.
Yankees: RHP Jonathan Lo谩isiga was put on the 60-day IL because of a strained right flexor muscle. RHP Danny Santana was brought up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and was charged with the ninth-inning runs in his Yankees debut.
UP NEXT
RHP Clarke Schmidt (0-0, 5.06) starts for the Yankees and RHP Kevin Gausman (0-0, 2.08) in a rare Saturday night game at Yankee Stadium.
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