Yankees drop home opener vs. Blue Jays despite Marcus Stroman's solid start

Marcus Stroman, Long Island born and bred, called starting the Yankees’ home opener “a dream come true.”

At the same time, he all but scoffed at the notion that he would find the setting overwhelming.

“I’m good at this, man,” Stroman said. “Staying calm is what I do. Been doing this for 10 years.”

Stroman knew of what he spoke. The outing could not have gone much better for the former Patchogue-Medford High School star, who threw six scoreless innings.

But a Yankees offense that found a variety of ways to win in the club’s hot start was handcuffed by Yusei Kikuchi and four Blue Jays relievers in a 3-0 loss Friday afternoon in front of a sellout crowd of 47,812 at the Stadium that was enthusiastic at the start but left disappointed.

“Unfortunately, we just didn’t get it going offensively to really blow the roof off,” Aaron Boone said after the Yankees were shut out for the second time in three games.

The Yankees (6-2) were held to six hits in being shut out in a home opener for the first time since 1967. Juan Soto, who received the second-loudest ovation during pregame introductions (Aaron Judge got the loudest, of course) had a quiet debut in pinstripes, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

“Really cool,” Soto, who took off his cap and bowed to the fans during the Bleacher Creatures’ Roll Call, said of the crowd. “Really nice . . . It’s all love from them to me and me to them.”

Chad Green, mostly terrific in his time with the Yankees from 2016-22 before getting hurt, allowed two-out singles by Anthony Rizzo and Anthony Volpe in the ninth, bringing Alex Verdugo to the plate as the tying run. Swinging at a first-pitch 95-mph fastball, Verdugo flied to right to end it.

Yankees lefthander Caleb Ferguson, among those expected to offset the loss of Wandy Peralta, allowed a home run by pinch hitter Ernie Clement leading off the seventh to give the Blue Jays (4-4) a 1-0 lead. Toronto, on the third leg of a three-city trip to start the season, scored on two wild pitches by Nick Burdi in the ninth to make it 3-0.

Kikuchi faced little trouble in his 5 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and two walks. The lefthander struck out seven.

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“I thought he did a good job changing speeds,” Boone said. “Didn’t have a lot of real good scoring chances. Just not a lot going offensively.”

Still, there was a major positive to take from the afternoon: the performance of Stroman.

Coming off a start in Houston in which he allowed three runs (none earned) in six innings, Stroman was even better Friday against the team he played for from 2014-19, allowing three hits and a walk with six strikeouts. 

“Just an incredible performance by him,” Judge said. “I could see it from the beginning when he was out there warming up, getting the fans into it, and the fans had his back all game. Even warming up, they were pretty excited to see him go out there and kind of live his dream. That was a special moment right there. And then all game, maybe got into trouble a couple innings, but the guy showed up and made pitches when he had to.”

Stroman, who has said throughout his career that he feeds off the “energy” of the crowd, acknowledged the fans 40 minutes before his start on his way out to the bullpen to warm up. He even detoured en route to the first-base stands for a quick hello to his son, mother and father.

Stroman, somewhat belying his reputation for calmness, said he “didn’t eat at all last night, this morning” and was “very anxious” about the start. But, as he said in Arizona, once between the lines, all of that falls by the wayside, with his focus exactly where it needs to be.

“It’s a dream come true for me,” said Stroman, who allowed a double to Springer on his first pitch of the game but escaped a man-on-third, one-out situation by striking out Bo Bichette and getting Justin Turner to line to short. “I feel like every kid that has dreams of playing baseball, especially in pinstripes, you kind of imagine yourself pitching Opening Day at home for the New York Yankees. It was everything and more. I’m just very grateful and thankful for the home crowd, the energy, to have my family here. It all meant the world to me.”