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Blue Jays Gameday (May 19): Toronto looks to bounce-back against the Yankees
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Photo credit: © Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Tristan Morgan
May 19, 2026, 18:11 EDTUpdated: May 19, 2026, 18:14 EDT
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Last night must have felt like a bit of a gut punch to the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays outplayed the New York Yankees for the better part of seven innings last night, built a 5-3 lead, and had a genuine chance to steal the first game of this series. Then the Yankees did what they do at Yankee Stadium, hitting a pair of two-run wall-scraping home runs late to create a 7-5 lead and holding on from there. Yariel Rodríguez’s bullpen implosion erased what could have been one of the better wins of this season. 
Instead, the Blue Jays are now down in the series, sitting at 21-25. But if anything is known about this Blue Jays squad, it’s their ability to have a short memory, and with their best man on the mound tonight, they’ll look to bounce back.
That man is Dylan Cease, and his importance to this club right now cannot be overstated.
Through nine starts, Cease leads the American League in strikeouts and sits second in all of baseball, with 75 punchouts on the year. His ERA is at 2.41 with a 1.18 WHIP, and he’s holding opponents to a .214 batting average.  His last three starts have been especially dominant: seven innings each, 26 strikeouts combined, and only four earned runs allowed.  He has been the most consistent thing about this Blue Jays team, and an anchor on a roster that has spent much of the season searching for one.
Cease enters tonight with a 34.6% strikeout rate and has nearly erased his home run rate, now just allowing 0.2 HR/9. Cease has dramatically strengthened his ability to work deep into games recently, and he should be in line for a good face-off with one of the best offences in MLB tonight.
One of the keys to Cease’s success has been his dramatically improved numbers against left-handed batters. Lefties posted a .735 OPS against him last season. This year, they’ve been held to a .550 OPS with zero home runs. That matters enormously in Yankee Stadium, where a lineup stacked with left-handed hitters can easily exploit the short porch in right field.
However, the matchup history with New York hasn’t been kind to Cease. He carries a 5.34 ERA in six career starts against the Yankees. But the last time they faced off just over a year ago for the San Diego Padres, Cease went 6⅔ innings and allowed just one run, carrying a no-hit bid into the seventh. That version of Cease is who the Blue Jays need tonight, especially with the situation in the bullpen.
The relief situation got grimmer after news broke this afternoon.
Joe Mantiply, who has been one of John Schneider’s most reliable pen pieces with a 2.04 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and a 90th percentile chase rate across 17 2/3 innings, was placed on the 15-day IL with left knee inflammation, with Chase Lee recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to fill the spot. Lee has made just one big league appearance this season, allowing a run over 1.1 innings before being sent back down in late April. It puts even more pressure on Cease to go deep and spare a shorthanded group from having to navigate high-leverage situations in the Bronx.
Standing in the Blue Jays’ way this evening is Will Warren.
The 26-year-old righty carries a 3.42 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP across 47.1 innings with a 29.8% strikeout rate, despite only having slightly above average stuff. Warren works with a 5-pitch arsenal, including two fastball shapes sitting around 94 mph, a sweeping slider, a cutter, and a changeup. The slider in particular is a plus offering with a ton of horizontal movement that tunnels well with his two-seamer. 
The one caveat is that Warren has faced the Blue Jays just once in his career, and it did not go well: he allowed eight runs on 10 hits over four innings in the 2025 meeting, surrendering two home runs in the process.
The Blue Jays offence is still searching for consistency as a unit, but yesterday’s six runs and previous success against Warren could be a positive sign of what’s to come tonight.
Daulton Varsho is the hottest bat in this lineup right now, posting an .850 OPS since the calendar flipped to May, with six of his 17 hits going for extra bases. Okamoto, while going just 2/18 recently, has elite Statcast numbers (94th percentile average exit velocity and 95th percentile hard-hit rate). To top it off, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. snapped his home run drought in Detroit and will look to build on that tonight after a ¼ performance last night.
Although it is worth noting, Ernie Clement, who blasted a three-run homer last night off Ryan Weathers, remains out of the lineup tonight as he deals with a case of strep throat. Davis Schneider will fill in for Clement tonight, and in Schneider’s only game against Warren last July, he blasted a two-run homer, something worth keeping in mind tonight. 
This series is already tilting toward New York. If the Blue Jays drop tonight, they’d need to sweep the final two games just to avoid a series loss in their own division. I have very little doubt about Cease’s ability tonight, but the other 25 players have to rally around him to get back on the right side of a box score. Tonight is a must-win situation to get back into the division race.
Location: New York City, NY (Yankee Stadium)
First Pitch: 7:05 PM ET
Watch/Listen: Sportsnet One, SN590

Starting Pitchers

Toronto Blue Jays – Dylan Cease: 3-1, 2.41 ERA, 52.1 IP, 75 SO, 1.18 WHIP
New York Yankees – Will Warren: 5-1, 3.42 ERA, 47.1 IP, 59 SO, 1.16 WHIP

Lineups:

Blue Jays:
1.George Springer – DH
2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – 1B
3. Daulton Varsho – CF
4. Kazuma Okamoto – 3B
5. Yohendrick Piñango – LF
6. Jesús Sánchez – RF
7. Davis Schneider – 2B
8. Andrés Giménez – SS
9. Tyler Heineman – CC
Yankees:
1. Trent Grisham – CF
2. Ben Rice – 1B
3. Aaron Judge – RF
4. Cody Bellinger – LF
5. Jazz Chisholm Jr. – 2B
6. Ryan McMahon – 3B
7. Anthony Volpe – SS
8. Jahmai Jones – DH
9. Austin Wells – C

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