Division hopes take hit as Jays sweep twin bill

BRETT GARDNER had just had a huge afternoon-into-night, homering once in the first game and twice in the nightcap. But that was little solace after a long, wet Yankee doubleheader dud.

“I’d gladly take an 0 for the day for one win, not even two,” Gardner said ruefully. “It’s a tough day.”

The Blue Jays delivered a potentially shattering combo of gut punches to the Yankees’ division title hopes Saturday, sweeping the twin bill to drop the Bombers 4½ games back in the American League East standings with just 21 games left.

Both Yankee starters, Michael Pineda in Game 1 and Ivan Nova in Game 2, pitched poorly at the Stadium, where the Jays took the opener, 9-5, in 11 innings and won the nightcap, 10-7. The bullpen imploded in Game 1, too, when wild outings by Bryan Mitchell and Chasen Shreve sunk the Yanks.

By the time Game 2 was winding down in an occasional drizzle — there was also a 33-minute rain delay — many of the folks still in the stands from an announced crowd of 46,278 were rooting for the Blue Jays. They chanted “MV-P” at Josh Donaldson and exhorted Long Island native Marcus Stroman (1-0), the righty who started and allowed three runs in five innings in his return from knee surgery.

The Yankees have lost five consecutive games and might be more likely to reach the postseason as a wild card than as AL East champs. But they still have four shots at the Jays — Sunday afternoon at the Stadium and three games in Toronto from Sept. 21-23.

Even after the Yanks absorbed the two losses, Gardner says his outlook on the division race hasn’t changed, though he admits, “It could (Sunday) if they win four in a row against us. But I don’t plan on that happening.

“We still have three weeks left and four more games against these guys, none more important than (Sunday). Trying to avoid being swept by the team you’re in a race with, four games at home, it’s not the way you expect things to happen.”

Gardner hit a solo homer in the first game as the Yankees built a 4-1 lead that Pineda could not hold. But Gardner also failed to advance on an eighthinning wild pitch, which means he later missed a chance at potentially scoring the go-ahead run.

In the nightcap, Gardner brought the Yanks within 6-3 with a three-run homer in the fifth inning and 10-7 with another three-run shot in the eighth. It was not enough, though.

Blame the starters, for starters. But save some for the bullpen, too, at least in Game 1. Pineda got a no-decision, but he allowed four runs in 51⁄3 innings and gave up a season-high three homers. Still, the Yankees were tied at 5 in the 11th inning when Mitchell and Shreve lost control.

Mitchell (0-2) walked two batters and hit another while getting only one out. Shreve relieved and walked in the go-ahead run, gave up an RBI single and then walked in two more runs, enraging those remaining at the Stadium, some of whom simply left after booing him.

“It just wasn’t there for me,” Shreve said. “I tried everything in my book to throw strikes. It just didn’t happen.”

Asked what happened, Girardi said: “Strikes. That’s the bottom line. They didn’t throw strikes. It’s hard to say exactly what it is. Lotta times, if I were a psychiatrist, I’d have a call down there with them before they went out.”

Nova could’ve given the Yankees a lift after a tough loss in the opener, but he was terrible in Game 2. Nova (6-8) gave up six runs and seven hits, lasting just 12⁄3 innings. He allowed one homer, threw two wild pitches and hit two batters. The Yankees trailed, 6-0, by the time he left.

“They hit me hard,” Nova said. “We scored a lot of runs, enough to win the ballgame and because of me, we don’t win the game.”

Not only was the sweep a blow to the Yanks’ division hopes, it perhaps also added doubt about the readiness of Pineda and Nova for October.

Pineda now has a 5.82 ERA in four starts since coming off the disabled list last month, though he says, “I feel very good right now and everything is working good.” Nova’s ERA ballooned more than half a run to 5.12 this season, his first back from Tommy John surgery. The Game 1 loss dropped the Yankees to 3-8 in extra-inning games this season. Meanwhile, Toronto has won seven straight at the Stadium. If its winning streak continues Sunday, well, that might end the Yanks’ division hopes. That was tough to digest after what Girardi described as “a long day.”

“But you’ve got to reach down,” the manager added. “This is the time of year, you’ve got to fight and reach down and find energy.”