New York Yankees salvage game at Toronto

At Rogers Centre on Wednesday night, the Yankees rode several big hits and clutch pitching to a 5-3 triumph over the Toronto Blue Jays. New York (40-37) had lost the set’s first two games and four straight overall since Saturday. Toronto (44-36) leads the third-place Bombers by 2.5 games in the American League East.

The Yankees hammered numerous balls against RHP Drew Hutchison. Toronto’s starter allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out six over six innings.

Hutchison (5-6; 4.00 ERA) maintained his poise after a four-run third inning. Hutchison escaped a bases-loaded jam with two outs in the fifth inning on a groundout by RF Ichiro Suzuki, and he fanned the side in a perfect sixth inning.

RHP Hiroki Kuroda battled through several jams on the night for the Yankees. Kuroda (5-5; 4.23 ERA) surrendered three runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out four over 6.1 innings.

Kuroda was aided by a pair of double plays. 2B Brian Roberts commenced a 4-6 double play on a liner hit by RF Anthony Gose to end the second inning; SS Derek Jeter started an unconventional 6-6-3 twin killing in the fourth inning after he failed to hang onto a line drive hit by C Dioner Navarro.

Blue Jays’ SS Jose Reyes starred in the opening frame. After LF Brett Gardner commenced the game with a double and moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Jeter, Reyes snared a hard liner from CF Jacoby Ellsbury to save a run. Reyes then lined Kuroda’s first pitch of the night over the right field wall for a 1-0 Toronto lead.

New York rallied for four runs and a 4-1 lead in the third inning. C Francisco Cervelli knotted the score with a RBI double, Ellsbury put the Yankees ahead with a two-out RBI single, and 1B Mark Teixeira culminated the onslaught with a two-run homerun, which just cleared the right field fence.

Toronto closed to within 4-3 in the fifth inning on LF Melky Cabrera’s two-out two-run single. Cabrera’s hit was crucial because the Blue Jays lost a run when a hit by Reyes into the right field corner bounced over the wall for a ground rule double.

The Yankees extended their lead to 5-3 without the benefit of a hit in the seventh inning. After LHP Rob Rasmussen loaded the bases with nobody out on a couple of walks and a hit batter, Teixeira hit a sacrifice fly against RHP Sergio Santos, who proceeded to mitigate the potential damage.

LHP Matt Thornton stranded the tying runs in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh inning by retiring 1B Adam Lind on a comebacker to the mound.

RHP David Robertson recorded the final five outs to earn his 18th save in 20 chances this season. The 1.2-inning save was Robertson’s longest since he earned a two-inning save in a 6-4 win over Toronto on Sept. 3, 2011.

Notes:

1) The Blue Jays failed to sweep a series of at least three games from the Yankees at Rogers Centre (formerly Sky Dome) for the first time since Sept. 19-21, 2000.

Monday: Blue Jays 8 Yankees 3

1) Making his second start against Toronto in less than a week, RHP Chase Whitley endured his worst outing of the season. Whitley (3-1; 4.07 ERA), who hadn’t surrendered more than three runs in any of his previous seven starts this season, gave up eight runs on 11 hits and three walks over 3.1 innings, including seven runs on 10 hits and no walks between the first two frames.

2) The Blue Jays’ onslaught occurred despite the fact that a pair of their key batters, 3B Brett Lawrie and RF Jose Bautista, missed the game. Lawrie was placed on the 15-day disabled list prior to the game with a broken right index finger; Bautista sat with a hamstring strain.

3) Cabrera hurt his former team. After Whitley fanned Reyes to begin the first inning, Cabrera doubled and scored Toronto’s first run. Cabrera then extended the Blue Jays’ lead to 3-0 with a RBI single in the second inning. The first knock upped Cabrera’s hitting streak against the Yankees to 20 games.

4) Teixeira, who had driven in New York’s previous run with a solo dinger in the fourth inning of Saturday’s 7-1 loss to Baltimore, snapped the Yankees’ 18.1-inning scoreless streak with a homerun that just cleared the centerfield wall in the fourth inning.

5) RHP Marcus Stroman rebounded from his laborious outing at Yankee Stadium last Tuesday. Stroman (4-2; 4.25 ERA) surrendered only one run on three hits and a walk while striking out seven over eight innings. Importantly for Toronto, Stroman’s 100th pitch didn’t come until his last pitch of the seventh inning; Stroman threw 98 pitches over 3.2 innings in his previous outing, when he was removed despite allowing only two runs.

6) Toronto’s defense contributed some nifty plays behind Stroman. 1B Edwin Encarnacion stole hits from C Brian McCann and 3B Kelly Johnson in the second and fifth innings, respectively, and Gose held onto a fly ball by SS Brendan Ryan while crashing into the wall in the sixth inning.

Ryan made an impressive play for the Yankees. Ryan stole a hit from 3B Steve Tolleson in the seventh inning by ranging well to his right before making a strong throw to first base from deep in the hole.

7) New York’s bullpen was effective. LHP David Huff (3.2 innings) and RHP Shawn Kelley (1.0 inning) combined to blank Toronto after Whitley’s departure.

8) 3B Yangervis Solarte broke his 0-28 slump with a RBI single against RHP Chad Jenkins in New York’s two-run ninth inning.

Tuesday: Blue Jays 7 Yankees 6

1) Though Cabrera’s hitting streak ended with a 0-5 night, the former Yankee was at the forefront of Toronto’s walkoff win. After Reyes greeted RHP Adam Warren with a leadoff double in the ninth inning, Cabrera dropped down a sacrifice bunt towards third base. Solarte’s subsequent throw to first base was wild, and Reyes scored the winning run. Solarte’s error was New York’s only official error of the night, but the Yankees’ defense was poor throughout the game (see note 5 below).

2) LHP Mark Buehrle failed to earn his second career win against New York despite holding a 6-0 lead in the sixth inning. Buehrle surrendered four runs on eight hits over 6.2 innings.

3) Jeter cut the Toronto lead to 6-1 with a leadoff homerun in the sixth inning, and the Yankees tied the score with a five-run seventh inning. The latter rally commenced with a two-run homerun by Roberts, which brought the Bombers to within 6-3.

The tying runs came across on a throwing error by Reyes with two outs in the seventh. Teixeira inadvertently elbowed Encarnacion in the head while crossing first base on the play, but Encarnacion stayed in the game despite lying on the ground for about a minute. To his credit, Encarnacion played hard for the remainder of the contest; he walked to lead off the eighth inning and dove headfirst into third base on a subsequent single by Navarro.

4) After three scoreless innings, RHP David Phelps ran into trouble in the fourth. The first two batters singled, and after CF Colby Rasmus struck out, Navarro launched a hanging curveball into the right field seats for a 3-0 lead. Phelps surrendered six runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out seven over five innings. Phelps did a nice job of mixing his two-seam and four-seam fastballs to attain the seven strikeouts.

5) Jeter committed two key mental miscues, though no official errors, as the Blue Jays doubled their lead to 6-0 in the fifth inning.

With two on and two out, Encarnacion grounded a ball to deep short that should have ended the inning. Instead, Toronto’s first baseman reached as Jeter looked to second and third before firing a belated throw to first. Rasmus took advantage of the extra out, lining Phelps’ next pitch off the right field wall for a two-run single.

The misplays continued. Rasmus was caught in a rundown between first and second, but Jeter failed to throw the ball to Teixeira before the runner dove safely back into first base. This sequence allowed Toronto’s sixth run to score.

6) The loss marked the Yankees’ third walkoff setback this season. They were previously beaten in the bottom of the ninth inning by the Milwaukee Brewers on May 11 and the Chicago White Sox on May 23.

7) Though the Blue Jays have lost 16 consecutive road games against New York, Toronto has taken three of its past four home sets against the Yankees dating back to last season.

Following an off day on Thursday, the Yankees will return home for a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox.