New York Yankees 4 – Toronto Blue Jays 3
The Yankees looked to make a statement after a miserable series with the visiting Blue Jays last weekend.
Ivan Nova and David Price each pitched two scoreless innings. While Price surrendered a hit in each of the first two innings, Nova only allowed one to reach when he hit Edwin Encarnacion with a pitch. Ivan Nova struggled in the third inning.
After a second hit Blue Jays batter of the game, Ben Revere followed with a single. Troy Tulowitzki hit a bouncing ground ball that looked to go just over the head of Nova but the Yankees pitcher attempted to catch the ball with his pitching hand. The ball deflected off his hand and Didi Gregorius was able to recover and record an out, though the first run of the game scored. After Josh Donaldson hit a single, Jose Bautista scored the second run of the inning on a double and Edwin Encarnacion hit a sacrifice fly made it 3-0 in favor of the Blue Jays.
After the rough third inning, Ivan Nova settled down, retiring 13 of the last 16 he faced. In seven innings, Ivan Nova allowed three runs on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts. The third inning was the only rough inning he dealt with in a long, quality start.
The Yankees threatened in the fifth inning but fell short. It took until the eighth inning for the Yankees to get to Price and the Blue Jays.
After getting the first out, David Price surrendered a seeing-eye single to Mark Teixeira past Troy Tulowitzki. Brian McCann went the other way, hitting a single to left field to put two on with one out. Chase Headley knocked David Price out of the game with a high fly ball to left center, bouncing over the wall for a ground-rule double, plating the first Yankees run. David Price exited the game with two on and one out for hard-throwing reliever Aaron Sanchez.
Attacking pinch-hitter Carlos Beltran with fastballs, Sanchez got the first two by the Yankees switch-hitter before Beltran took the third one for a ball. On the fourth pitch, he missed location and Beltran did not miss it.
With a great swing, Carlos Beltran hit a huge three-run home run to right center field to put the Yankees ahead by one.
Dellin Betances pitched a scoreless eighth inning that featured a deep fly ball that fell short, to the Yankees relief. For the ninth inning, Andrew Miller came in for the save.
After retiring Russell Martin, Andrew Miller walked Chris Colabello despite a close pitch at 2-2. Kevin Pillar kept the inning going with a single to center field, putting two on with one out. A wild pitch put the two runners in scoring position but Miller got Ben Revere with a slider to strike him out for the second out. In the battle of the night, Andrew Miller and Troy Tulowitzki went to battle. In the 12-pitch battle between Miller and Tulowitzki, seven were foul balls and nine were sliders, including the third strike that got Tulowitzki swinging to end the game.
With tonight’s win, the Yankees snapped the Blue Jays 11-game winning streak and putting the Yankees back into first place for the moment. Tonight was huge in hopes of building momentum as the series continues tomorrow.
Win – Ivan Nova (5-4)
Loss – Aaron Sanchez (6-5)
Save – Andrew Miller (26)
Notables
Yankees
*Carlos Beltran – 1 for 1, R, Three-run home run (11) in the 8th, 3 RBI (39)
*Chase Headley – 3 for 4, R, 2 2B, RBI (47)
Blue Jays
*Jose Bautista – 1 for 4, 2B, RBI (80)
*Edwin Encarnacion – 1 for 2, 2B, RBI (65)
Current Yankees Record: 63-51
