None of that showed on the mound. Bieber worked 6 innings and allowed just 1 earned run, and Alejandro Kirk turned around a mistake for a home run that swung the game. The books had priced New York as a modest road favorite; Toronto simply out-pitched and out-hit that number.
Both clubs were coming off a loss in their prior outing, but the shape of each five-game stretch says plenty. Toronto had taken 3 of its first 4 against Boston before Friday, evidence the offense has some juice even outside a Kirk homer. New York had beaten Seattle in 2 of 3 to close its homestand, but a lineup missing this much thump was always going to be vulnerable against a starter locked in.
That injury list explains a lot about why this game played out the way it did. New York is still waiting on Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger, and Kervin Castro's elbow neuritis thinned an already taxed bullpen just before this series. Toronto, despite its own rotation carnage, got the one healthy body it needed most - a bounce-back Bieber - and that was enough.
A 3-1 final at Rogers Centre keeps Toronto within shouting distance of the wild card and hands the Yankees a series-opening loss to a team fighting for its playoff life. Cole leaving with just 1 earned run over 6 wasn't the problem - the Yankees offense simply had no answer for Bieber's best start in weeks.