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Blue Jays Shut Out Yankees Behind Brandon Morrow
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- almost 2 years ago
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Yankees-Blue Jays Score: Toronto Shuts Out New York, 3-0
Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Adam Lind homered twice and Brandon Morrow tossed eight shutout innings, as the Toronto Blue Jays delayed Mariano Rivera's pursuit of history and earned a 3-0 victory over the New York Yankees in the rubber match of a three-game series at Rogers Centre.
Rivera notched his 601st save on Saturday to tie Trevor Hoffman's all-time mark and was not needed in Sunday's contest, as the Yankees mustered little offense with Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira all on the bench for a day of rest.
Morrow (10-11) entered the contest 0-4 in his previous five starts, but limited New York to four hits with a walk and eight strikeouts to win for the first time since August 17 at Seattle.
"I spotted my fastball pretty good and I had a good curveball today," Morrow said.
Frank Francisco worked around a one-out double in the ninth to notch his 16th save.
The Yankees still lead the AL East by 4 1/2 games over the Red Sox, who dropped an 8-5 decision to the Tampa Bay Rays. New York just wrapped up a 10-game road trip at 4-6 and will start an eight-game homestand with a makeup game against Minnesota on Monday. Tampa Bay then visits for four before Boston invades the Bronx next weekend.
Freddy Garcia (11-8) went the first 4 2/3 innings for New York and was charged with three runs on five hits and three walks. The veteran righty has been roughed up for 15 runs in 12 1/3 innings over his last three outings. Still, he had been 4-0 over his last seven starts and suffered his first loss since a 7-1 setback to Toronto on July 15.
"He just missed his spots," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of his starter.
Eduardo Nunez had three of the five Yankee hits. He also had a baserunning gaffe after a sixth-inning single, trying to race to second after right fielder Jose Bautista threw behind him. Edwin Encarnacion easily took the throw at first and fired to second for the out.
The Yankees had two on with one out in the top of the first and tried to pull off a double steal, but trailing runner Robinson Cano was thrown out at second and Alex Rodriguez flied to right to end the threat.
Toronto took a 1-0 lead in the second when Lind led off the inning with his 25th home run of the season. Lind then clubbed his second of the game with one out in the fourth to make it 2-0.
The Jays tacked on another in the fifth and chased Garcia in the process. J.P. Arencibia walked with one out and raced all the way to third when Garcia threw away Mike McCoy's bunt single. Eric Thames followed with a sacrifice fly and Toronto went on to load the bases when Bautista singled and Lind walked. Luis Ayala took over on the mound and got Encarnacion on a fly ball to center.
Lind had a chance to blow the game open in the seventh with the bases loaded and one out against Raul Valdes, but was caught looking at a third strike. Encarnacion then grounded to third to keep it a three-run game.
The Yankees, though, got only a two-out single from Chris Dickerson in the eighth and a one-out double from Nunez in the ninth.
| Final - 9.18.2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| WP: Brandon Morrow (10 - 11) SV: Frank Francisco (16) LP: Freddy Garcia (11 - 8) |
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- almost 2 years ago
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Yankees-Blue Jays Score: Mariano Rivera Ties Saves Record In 7-6 Victory
Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Curtis Granderson's two-run homer in the seventh inning gave the Yankees the lead and Mariano Rivera worked a perfect ninth to tie the record with his 601st save, as New York rallied for a 7-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in the second of a three-game series at Rogers Centre.
Alex Rodriguez returned to the Yankee lineup after a six-game absence and helped New York roar back from a 6-1 deficit with a three-run homer in the sixth inning. He finished 2-for-4 and Granderson was 3-for-3 with two walks two RBI and scored three times, as New York halted a two-game skid.
The Yankees hold a 4 1/2-game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East. Boston lost to Tampa Bay on Saturday.
Mike McCoy knocked in three runs for the Blue Jays, who won Friday's opener in walkoff fashion with a 5-4 triumph. Toronto lost for just the second time in its last six games.
Granderson started the Yankee comeback in the sixth with a double and scored when Toronto's Colby Rasmus bobbled Mark Teixeira's base hit to center field. After Robinson Cano was hit by a pitch, Rodriguez drilled a Henderson Alvarez offering over the left-field wall for his 16th homer to make it a 6-5 game.
Rodriguez hadn't played since September 9 because of a thumb injury that has bothered him since August 21, the day he returned from the disabled list after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.
New York then went in front in the seventh against Carlos Villanueva (6-4). Derek Jeter led off with an infield hit before Granderson battled through a 12-pitch at-bat and belted his 40th homer of the season over the wall in center field.
The rally made a winner of Aaron Laffey (3-2), who worked a hitless bottom of the sixth. Hector Noesi threw the seventh and Rafael Soriano struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth before Rivera took over in the ninth.
Rivera caught Colby Rasmus looking at a third strike, then got Brett Lawrie on a grounder to first before Eric Thames lined out to center for the third out, giving Rivera his 42nd save of the year. It also tied him with Trevor Hoffman for the most all-time.
"It's pretty much what Mo's done his whole career," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "What can you say about Mo. We've seen a lot of special things."
The Yankee bullpen was nearly perfect in relief of starter Bartolo Colon, who surrendered six runs on seven hits with a walk and three strikeouts over four innings. Scott Proctor allowed a walk in the fifth inning for Toronto's lone baserunner against Yankee relievers.
"The bullpen did a good job," Girardi added. "It's a great win for us."
Alvarez went the first six innings for Toronto and allowed five runs on nine hits.
Toronto moved in front with four runs in the bottom of the second. Adam Lind and David Cooper began the inning with line-drive singles to put runners on the corners and Rasmus ended an 0-for-19 drought with an RBI double to the gap in right-center field. Lawrie followed with a run-scoring grounder and Jose Molina's ground-rule double to left scored another run before McCoy's safety squeeze chased home the last run of the inning.
The Yankees managed a single in each of the first two innings, but Alvarez quickly escaped both times with double-play grounders. New York then stranded a runner in the third before failing to capitalize on a big opportunity in the fourth.
After Granderson led off the fourth with a walk and raced to third on a double by Teixeira, Cano lofted a fly ball to left field. Converted pitcher Adam Loewen dropped the ball on the warning track, allowing Granderson to score and leaving runners at second and third. The runners held on a grounder to third by Rodriguez and Nick Swisher followed with a drive to the gap in right-center field. Rasmus made a lunging catch for the second out and Cano, thinking the ball had dropped, raced past a tagging Teixeira at third for the final out.
"I think Robbie thought the ball was going drop for sure," Girardi noted about the baserunning gaffe. "Still, you have to make sure. It was frustrating at the time, but everything worked out."
Toronto tacked on a pair of two-out runs for a 6-1 edge in the bottom half. Rasmus and Lawrie started the inning with singles before Colon retired the next two batters, but McCoy doubled over the head of Swisher in right field to chase home both runners.
- almost 2 years ago
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Blue Jays 5, Yankees 4: Sabathia Continues to Struggle As Yanks Fall in Toronto
New Yorkers who have followed the Boston Red Sox’ September swoon may want to start paying attention to what’s happening in their own backyard. And we’re not talking about the Mets here.
The Yankees lost their sixth game in their past nine last night, falling 5-4 to the Blue Jays. The Bombers’ biggest nightmare seemingly continues, as C.C. Sabathia again labored, throwing 120 pitches over just 5 2/3 innings. Sabathia was given a 3-1 lead before allowing three runs in the fifth. The Yanks fought back to tie the game at four, but lost when former Yankee Jose Molina singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
It was a rare September 2011 day where the Red Sox picked up ground on the Yankees, as Boston beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in Fenway. The Yankees’ lead has been cut to just 3 1/2 games in the American League East, and they still have two series remaining with the Rays. If the Yankees don’t get their act together soon, we might just want to hold off on getting ready to buy our AL East Champion shirts and hats.
