Toronto Blue Jays 8 — New York Yankees 7 (11 Innings)
The Yankees went from one pitch to win the game to an error leading to the 8-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays in 11 innings.
David Phelps got the start in place of the injured Ivan Nova and was impressive in his 6.1 innings. 3 of the 4 runs that Phelps allowed came on home runs when first baseman Adam Lind took him deep in the second and catcher Yorvit Torrealba took him deep with a runner on in the 5th. Other than that, on 88 pitches with 7 strikeouts and just 1 walk gave the Yankees more than they could have expected. The bullpen came together well onto the 9th inning with 0.2 of an inning from Cody Eppley and a scoreless 8th by David Robertson. Rafael Soriano has shown instances in which he bends but does not break amidst high pressure situations but tonight, he broke. With 2 on with 2 outs, Soriano faced Colby Rasmus as the potential winning run and Rasmus would take advantage of the short porch and put the Blue Jays ahead 7-6. The Yankees would tie it in the 9th and extend the game into the 11th inning. Torrealba would lead off the 11th with a single and would be replaced with a pinch-runner, Mike McCoy. An error that was as much reliever Derek Lowe’s as it was first baseman Eric Chavez’s on a pickoff attempt would let McCoy get to 3rd base. A soft ground ball to third was fielded by Jayson Nix and got the batter out at 1st but McCoy would end up scoring on this as what would be the game-winning run.
The Yankees offense came on a majority of home runs, to no one’s surprise. Robinson Cano was a big contributor as he hit two home runs in tonight’s game, in the 1st inning and 4th inning. The other part of the Yankees offense was attacking the Blue Jays pitcher. Henderson Alvarez would be hit two times in tonight’s game, the second hit a run-scoring single by Russell Martin that would actually knock Alvarez out of the game on injury. Then in the 5th inning, Nick Swisher batting right-handed hit a two-run home run off of Aaron Laffey. Pitcher Aaron Laffey would also exit due to injury in tonight’s game too. The injuries were not just for the Jays as Mark Teixeira exited the game in the 5th inning with a grade 1 calf strain. The Yankees would get something from Derek Jeter they have never gotten, a game-tying home run in the 9th inning or later. This home run led off the 9th inning after the Yankees lost the lead but could not score anymore after this as the injury and the loss make this night difficult.
Win – Darren Oliver (3-2)
Loss – Derek Lowe (8-11)
Notables
Blue Jays
*Colby Rasmus – 2 for 5, R, 3-Run Home Run (21) in the 9th, 3 RBI (69)
*Yorvit Torrealba – 3 for 5, 2 R, 2-Run Home Run (4) in the 5th, 2 RBI (14)
Yankees
*Robinson Cano – 2 for 4, 2 R, BB, 2 Solo Home Runs (27) in the 1st & 4th, 2 RBI (70)
*Nick Swisher – 1 for 5, R, 2-Run Home Run (20) in the 5th, 2 RBI (75)
Current Yankees Record: 74-54
