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The Jays have the luxury of owning the tiebreaker over New York, which means the lead is more like four games. Increasing that to five would severely limit the Yankees’ ability to make a late run, while another loss Sunday could make for an interesting finish.

Saturday’s result was mostly on the offence. The Jays managed to score just one run on three hits and four walks off Luis Gil, who tossed six innings in a quality start. They also combined to go just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position while stranding eight on base.

“Yesterday we generated a bit more traffic. Today the opportunities were a little bit less and we didn’t get the big hit,” Jays manager John Schneider said following the loss.

Right-hander Chris Bassitt was the hard-luck loser after allowing two runs (none earned) on three hits and three walks across five innings. He was removed after a rain delay of one hour and 46 minutes.

“I didn’t think my command was that good, but overall I executed when I had to,” Bassitt said about his outing. “I was trusting the guys behind me and trusting the offence ... There wasn’t a ton of pressure in one specific moment.”

Here’s more of what you need to know about Saturday’s game:

Bichette’s bang-bang play

The Jays took advantage of right-fielder Aaron Judge’s injured right elbow during Friday’s win when Daulton Varsho scored from second on a single. Varsho had yet to even reach third base by the time Judge grabbed the ball, but decided to test his arm anyway. Judge declined to throw home, lobbing the ball to the cut-off man.

Cody Bellinger replaced Judge in right for the second game of the series and it led to much better results for the Yankees. In the sixth, Nathan Lukes hit a single to right. Bo Bichette had reached third by the time Bellinger got to the ball, but he was thrown out by a couple of feet after being sent home. Bichette also banged his left shin on the gear of catcher Austin Wells and was in pain as he limped off the field. The good news for the Jays was that X-rays came back negative during the rain delay and he remained in the game. 

“He got pretty cut up,” Schneider said. “But we’re at the point where if you can play, you can play ... It was his shin that just ran right into Wells’ shin guard. A really good throw from Belli, and a really good play from Wells. He felt all right to play. We’ll see how he is tomorrow.”

The fielding game

The Yankees have made countless defensive miscues against the Jays this season, but the roles were reversed on Saturday. In the second inning, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. booted a makable play at first, which put runners on the corners with nobody out. Jasson Domínguez followed with an RBI single and Wells added a sacrifice fly to give the Yankees an early 2-0 lead. The Jays are 45-18 when scoring first, 37-42 when they don’t. Guerrero made amends in the fifth when he spared Bichette from an error with a swipe tag on an errant throw, which saved a run. But by then it was too little, too late.

“I knew he tagged him just because I heard something,” Bassitt said of the play, which went to video review. “Obviously Vladdy’s reaction, (I thought) he definitely tagged him, but I didn’t know where. Then I saw the replay and thought he missed him, but (he got) the foot.”

Pass the Rolaids

The Jays’ bullpen struggles continued as Louis Varland allowed all three batters he faced in the sixth inning to reach base. The 27-year-old right-hander received an assist when catcher Tyler Heineman threw out Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base, but Wells later added a sacrifice fly off Brendon Little. It was the eighth time in his last 10 appearances that Varland was charged with at least one run. His ERA since joining the Jays at the trade deadline is 12.37.