Devin Williams struggles doom Yankees in series opener with Blue Jays

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.It was hard to tell which was louder Friday: The blasted thud of a double off the bat of Alexandro Kirk or the angry boos that chased Devin Williams off the mound. If the Yankees did not have a true closer problem before, they do now after Williams coughed up another game, charged with his first blown save in the Yankees’ 4-2 series-opening loss to the Blue Jays in front of a sellout crowd of 46,081 who turned on the prized offseason addition.

The Yankees (15-11) have lost four of six. Given a one-run lead in what had been a well-pitched game, Williams entered for the ninth inning, faced three batters and retired none.George Springer singled before Williams hit Andres Gimenez with a 2-2 fastball. Kirk — who might have been sitting on Williams’ vaunted, airbending changeup — crushed that airbender over Trent Grisham’s head in center to drive in two and drive Williams out of the game.

Kirk then came around to score when Mark Leiter Jr.allowed a single to Addison Barger. Williams’ ERA is an astounding 11.25 through his first 10 appearances, in which he has held on to his “closer” title but let go of the intimidating presence he presented in his shutdown seasons in Milwaukee.

Even before Kirk’s double, some of the crowd chanted for Luke Weaver, who remained in the bullpen as the lead disappeared. Williams flushed a one-run lead that arose not from a big hit but from a big sacrifice fly off the bat of Austin Wells in the eighth.The Yankees turned 10 hits and four walks into just two runs, leaving 11 on base and going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The Yankees’ pitching kept them in the game, beginning with the strongest work of Carlos Carrasco’s season.

In his sixth start of the season — which he entered with a 6.53 ERA — the 38-year-old kept the Blue Jays off balance over five strong,...