(Sports Network) - Dustin Moseley will try to slow down Jose Bautista this evening when the New York Yankees continue their three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
Bautista hit home runs 39 and 40 on the season, the second of which was a tie- breaking solo blast off David Robertson in the eighth inning, boosting the Blue Jays to a 3-2 win.
Bautista's first blast was a two-run shot in the third inning off rookie Ivan Nova, who was making his first major league start. Nova threw a pitch up and high over Bautista in the sixth inning, causing the benches to clear, but no punches were thrown.
Two innings later, Bautista took Robertson's 0-1 offering well over the wall in left field to expand his major league-leading lead in homers. Prior to Monday, Robertson (2-4) hadn't allowed a run in his last 19 appearances.
After the game, Bautista was steamed by a column that appeared in a local newspaper regarding a question if his home run barrage this year was linked to performance-enhancing drugs. Prior to this year, Bautista hadn't hit more than 16 homers in a single season. He is the first Blue Jay to hit 40 homers since Carlos Delgado in 2003, and he's now within seven of George Bell's team record of 47, set during Bell's MVP season in 1987.
"I'm subject to testing all the time, so I don't know where this guys is coming from with these allegations," said Bautista, who leads the majors in homers (16), RBI (39) and extra-base hits (25) since the All-Star break. "Somebody brought it up. I could care less."
Brandon Morrow sparkled in the start for the Blue Jays, fanning 12 over six innings. Morrow, who struck out a career-best 17 during a one-hit shutout against Tampa Bay on August 8, gave up four hits and two runs, while walking a pair of hitters. He fanned three batters in an inning three times Monday.
Scott Downs (5-5) got an inning-ending double-play grounder off the bat of Mark Teixeira in the eighth inning, and Kevin Gregg pitched the ninth for his 28th save.
Nova departed after giving up six hits over 5 1/3 frames as the Yankees lost for the second time in seven games. They fell into a first-place tie with the Rays in the AL East, as Tampa Bay won in Anaheim Monday night.
Cano and Jorge Posada drove in the runs for New York, which lost for the first time in 13 games this season without Alex Rodriguez in the lineup. Rodriguez, of course, was placed on the disabled list over the weekend with a calf strain.
Moseley earned the win over the Tigers on Wednesday, as he allowed four runs and five hits in five innings, upping his record to 3-2 on the year to go along with a 4.76 ERA.
"I thought tonight -- and the last start, too -- I just made a couple mental mistakes, not paying attention to situations, hitters and counts," Moseley said. "I'm maybe attacking the zone too much when I'm ahead in the count. I'm kicking myself, but I'm happy the boys picked me up."
Moseley lost to the Blue Jays back on August 3 and is 0-2 in four games (two starts) against them with a 4.11 ERA.
Toronto, meanwhile, will counter with lefty Marc Rzepczynski, who is 1-1 with a 4.76 ERA on the year. Rzepczynski did not get a decision on Wednesday in Oakland, but was awful, allowing three runs and five hits with five walks in just 4 1/3 frames of his team's 5-4 loss.
"Today my sinker was either running or sinking straight down, I had no idea where it was going," Rzepczynski said after his poor outing. "Especially that first inning when I was throwing them, it's just they were either down or away. When you walk the first three guys, usually it's not going to be a very good outing and today for me, it wasn't."
Rzepczynski has faced the Yankees twice and is 0-1 against them with a 7.71 ERA.
Toronto has won six of its 10 meetings with the Yankees this season.