Toronto Blue Jays 4 — New York Yankees 8
Yankees take the first of two games today with a pair of home runs for eight unanswered runs in today’s 8-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Ivan Nova put himself into a jam in the second inning when he led off with a single and a walk. Maicer Izturis would plate the first run with a single back to center field. A passed ball on Chris Stewart put Ivan Nova in an even tighter jam with the runners in scoring position. Nova would get the next two outs on the ground but another run would score. Jose Reyes would single to put runners on the corners and Rajai Davis hit a two-run double to make it a dreadful inning for Ivan Nova.
In the third inning, the Yankees started their rally.
With one out, Brett Gardner would get the Yankees offense going with a single through the infield into center field. Ichiro Suzuki would go down the left field line to put two in scoring position for Robinson Cano. With one hit already, Robinson Cano would hit a milestone with his three-run home run to center field. The home run was the 200th of his career. It also put the Yankees within one of catching the Blue Jays.
In the sixth inning, Jayson Nix would play some nifty defense at shortstop when he turned a hit-and-run play into a 6-3 double play to help out Nova. But Nix would be important in completing the rally.
After Alex Rodriguez hit a single, the Blue Jays would turn to lefty Brett Cecil to strike out Curtis Granderson and righty Neil Wagner to strike out pinch-hitter Mark Reynolds for the second out. Just when it seemed like the Yankees wouldn’t create anything in the inning, Jayson Nix would walk to bring up Chris Stewart with two on and two out. On a 2-1 pitch, Stewart turned on an inside fastball for his career-high fourth home run of the season. The three-run home run gave the Yankees a 6-4 lead.
With a two-run lead, Ivan Nova gave up an infield single to Jose Reyes but struck out Rajai Davis swinging. Boone Logan would be called on for Anthony Gose and got him to ground out. The bullpen would be turned to one more time and Shawn Kelley was called on. Kelley’s slider didn’t get the Jays swinging so Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind would work out walks to load the bases. Kelley would get Brett Lawrie to fly out to center field and the lead was intact.
Robinson Cano would make his 4-for-4 day complete with a double in the eighth inning for his fourth RBI of the day too. David Robertson would strike out two in the eighth inning and Joba Chamberlain started the ninth. He got one out but walked one and Joe Girardi would take no chances despite the four-run lead, he turned to Mariano Rivera. One ground out, one fly out and the Yankees finished off the win.
Ivan Nova wasn’t great in 6.1 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits but managed to get the win.
The race to 4,000 professional hits for Ichiro Suzuki is as close as ever, his two hits today put him at 3,999.
Win – Ivan Nova (7-4)
Loss – Neil Wagner (2-4)
Notables
Blue Jays
*Maicer Izturis – 2 for 4, R, RBI (32)
*Rajai Davis – 1 for 4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI (14)
Yankees
*Robinson Cano – 4 for 4, R, 2B, 3-Run Home Run (23) in the 3rd, 4 RBI (60)
*Chris Stewart – 1 for 4, R, 3-Run Home Run (4) in the 6th, 3 RBI (23)
Current Yankees Record: 65-59
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