Brett Gardner made an impact in the field and with the bat in tonight’s 3-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Ivan Nova started tonight’s game and continues to make a strong showing for Rookie of the Year with his 15th win of the season, leading all rookies.
Ivan Nova had a rough 1st inning as two runs scored but the defense of Brett Gardner helped in keeping the Blue Jays from running away with what could have been a big inning. First he turned a fine play on a line drive that allowed a run to score but more could have had it gotten by him. The next two outs involved the Yankees speedy left fielder yet again as he made an even better play in left field to rob Edwin Encarnacion of extra bases and turned it into a double play on the runner at first base.
Brett Gardner continued to make his presence felt in tonight’s game but this time with the bat. In the 3rd inning, the Yankees trailed 2-0 until Gardner deposited a two-run home run into right field to tie the game.
Robinson Cano broke up the 2-2 tie with a run-scoring single in the 5th inning and with Ivan Nova on the mound, that was all that the young right hander needed.
After the two runs allowed in the 1st inning, Nova kept the Blue Jays off the board for 7 innings with the assistance of the defense behind him. Rafael Soriano pitched the 8th due to David Robertson being unavailable with stiffness. Mariano Rivera closed out the game for his 37th save of the season and 596th of his career, 4 away from 600.
Ryan Nakada
@adakannayr
