Toronto Blue Jays 7 – New York Yankees 4
After a pitching implosion which led to a loss following a rain delay last night, the New York Yankees looked to get back on their feet in Wednesday afternoon’s rubber game with the Blue Jays.
After a perfect inning from both CC Sabathia and J.A. Happ, the Toronto bats got to work in the second inning. Troy Tulowitzki became the first baserunner with a single to first. Melvin Upton Jr. would walk following the base hit. Tulowitzki scored on a double off the wall by Ezequiel Carrera, then Darwin Barney hit a grounder down the third base line, scoring both Upton Jr. and Carrera.
Sabathia had the strikeout working early with five after two innings of work, but that didn’t stop Toronto from getting an early 3-0 lead. Gary Sanchez would quickly respond, putting the Yankees on the board by crushing a home-run into Monument Park. The Yankees trailed 3-1 after two.
Following a scoreless third and top half of the fourth, Starlin Castro hit a solo shot on a line drive down to left field. Sanchez would walk following the home-run, but that would be it for the Yankees in the fourth as they then trailed 3-2.
Devon Travis led off the fifth inning with a sharp grounder to Didi Gregorius at short, soon to be followed by Josh Donaldson reaching on a fielder’s choice on a slow grounder to Chase Headley at third. Headley took the next grounder from Edwin Encarnacion as well, but after the force out at third he rushed the throw to first, air-mailing it into right field, advancing Donaldson in the process. With runners at first and third, Russell Martin singled to right field, scoring Donaldson. Encarnacion and Martin would score on a three-run homer by Upton Jr.
Poor defense helped attribute to a 7-2 Toronto lead, with the Yankees allowing extra outs on bad throws by Headley and Didi slipping on a ground ball to him. The Yankees could not respond as they went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Headley kicked things off with a solo home-run to left center field. Castro would follow with a base hit to center field. He would advance to third on a single to shallow right field by Aaron Judge. The Yankees could not capitalize with runners at first and third. Didi grounded out to Tulowitzki at short to end the inning. The Yankees still trailed 7-3 after six innings.
Six innings would be it for Sabathia this afternoon. He allowed seven runs on nine hits with one walk and 12 strikeouts. Kirby Yates, who was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier today, would take over for Sabathia. He and Tommy Layne would pitch a scoreless seventh and eighth inning, respectively.
The Yankees were able to string a few hits in the eighth inning. Headley would reach on an infield single and Sanchez on a soft line drive to left field. Judge would hit a line drive to left field, driving in Headley from second, cutting the Toronto lead to three in the process.
The Blue Jays would bring in their 21-year-old closer Roberto Osuna to finish the inning and the ninth for the four out save, his 27th on the season.
Win – Happ (17-3)
Loss – Sabathia (7-10)
Save – Osuna (27)
Notables
Toronto Blue Jays
*Russell Martin – 3 for 5, R, RBI (47)
*Melvin Upton Jr. – 2 for 3, 2 R, HR (17, 5th inning), 3 RBI (50), BB
New York Yankees
*Gary Sanchez – 2 for 3, R, HR (5, 2nd inning), RBI (11), BB
*Aaron Judge – 2 for 4, RBI (4)
Current Yankees Record: 61-59
