Bassitt reaches 200 innings as Blue Jays close in on playoffs with shutout of Yankees

Chris Bassitt never told Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider or pitching coach Pete Walker what his personal goal was for the year.

But when they sent him back out to the mound for the eighth inning on Thursday, Bassitt knew they also wanted him to reach 200 innings in a season for the first time in his career.

Bassitt struck out Yankees slugger Aaron Judge for the final out of his 7 2/3 inning performance as the Blue Jays routed New York 6-0 at home on Thursday as Toronto took a step toward clinching a post-season berth. Bassitt (16-8) gave up five hits and a walk but struck out 12 to also reach a career high in wins.

Bassitt told reporters that he believes 200 innings is the benchmark for elite pitchers.

"Throw 160, I've done it. Throw 180, I've done it. But to get to 200 innings you have to have so many people who trust you," said Bassitt. "You have to have so much work behind the scenes that people don't see. It's been my only goal forever.

"So to get it, to have this organization believe in me like they do, it means the world to me."

The win gave the Blue Jays a one-game lead over the idle Houston Astros in the race for the American League's second wild card. It also gave Toronto a two-game lead over the Seattle Mariners, who hosted the Texas Rangers later Thursday.

"I didn't try to chase 200 innings. I never tried to do that. I try to chase the post-season," said Bassitt, who signed a three-year, $63 million US deal with Toronto in December after his New York Mets lost in the National League's wild-card series. "Honestly, there's been a pain that I've held for well over a year just because of how last year ended for me.

"I just promised myself that I'm going to give the best chance I've got to whoever signs me, every single day. That's truly what I've done."

Brandon Belt smashed a three-run home run as Toronto (88-71) shook off a two-game scoring drought. Daulton Varsho and Matt Chapman both had home runs and Cavan Biggio added an RBI single as the Blue Jays racked up 13 hits.

"I think that that's something we can do more and more," said Belt of Toronto's offensive output. "We were able to pick it up today knowing that we're pretty close to getting into the playoffs.

"I think that's something that hopefully we'll see as we go through the playoffs."

Relievers Yimi Garcia and Tim Mayza preserved Bassitt's victory.

Luke Weaver (3-6) struck out six but gave up two runs on six hits over four innings as New York (81-78) had its three-game win streak snapped. Greg Weissert, Zach McAllister and Yoendrys Gomez came on in relief.