WOE, CANADA!
Yanks drop Toronto finale:
TORONTO — The mood in the Yankees clubhouse was upbeat Sunday as they headed home with a series win over the Blue Jays and sole possession of first place, yet there was a sense of having let a prime opportunity slip away in baseball’s tightest divisional race.
The bright sun caused Carlos Beltran to drop a routine fly ball to right field in the third inning, sparking a three-run outburst for the Blue Jays. That proved to be enough for righthander Drew Hutchison, who outpitched rookie Luis Severino for a 3-1 Toronto victory in front of a third straight sellout crowd at Rogers Centre.
“I think we did what we had to do,” Alex Rodriguez said. “We came in and won two out of three, now we get to go home and play at home for 10 games, so that’s good for us.”
The Yankees, who had scored 16 runs during their three-game winning streak, struggled to get anything going against Hutchison, who entered the game with a 2.68 ERA at Rogers Centre compared to a 9.00 mark on the road this season.
Hutchison (12-2) allowed one run on three hits and a walk over 6.2 innings, striking out five. “Sometimes you have to give those guys credit,” A-Rod said. “They’re throwing the ball very well.”
Despite Sunday’s loss, the Yankees accomplished their mission by winning the weekend series, reclaiming first place in the American League East by a half-game over the Blue Jays. The teams will meet seven more times in September.
“I thought we did a good job coming in here and winning a tough series on the road,” Joe Girardi said. “We snatched one the other day and had a few chances today. We didn’t have many chances but any time you can win two out of three, that’s a good series.”
Severino (0-2) gave up three runs on five hits and three walks, striking out nine over six innings. All three runs came after Beltran lost Troy Tulowitzki’s routine fly ball in the sun, which should have been the third out of the inning.
“As soon as the ball was hit, I saw it all the way,” Beltran said. “I lost it when it was basically getting close to me. I couldn’t do anything. The ball hit me in the back. Unfortunately, it would have been a different story if I had caught that ball.”
“That’s part of the game,” Severino said through a translator. “That happens in the game.”
Beltran’s miscue was initially scored as an error before being changed to a double.
“Honestly, I don’t care how they score it,” Beltran said. “If I would have seen it, I would have caught it. Unfortunately, the ball got into the sun and I couldn’t make the catch.”
Josh Donaldson made the Yankees pay for the mistake, singling in Tulowitzki for the game’s first run. Four pitches later, Jose Bautista crushed a hanging slider into the left-center field seats for his 28th home run of the season, giving the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead.
“It was supposed to be a slider down and it stayed up. I paid for it,” Severino said. “I knew right away. As soon as I saw the pitch was high, I knew it was going to be a problem.”
Severino shut the Blue Jays down after the unfortunate third, but those three runs proved to be enough for Toronto thanks to Hutchison, whose lone mistake came on Ellsbury’s two-out homer in the sixth.
The Yankees brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth against Roberto Osuna, but the closer struck out A-Rod and got Mark Teixeira to ground out, earning his 13th save.
“We’re happy. We won the series,” Beltran said. “It’s important. This is the team that we’re basically fighting. We have seven games left with them. Right now we have to go home, focus on our series, and hopefully when we face them again we can expand our lead a little bit more.”