Blue Jays rally in 9th, hold wild-card lead, beat Yankees
TORONTO >> The New York Yankees finally scored again. They still couldn’t come up with a win in Canada.
Ezequiel Carrera drove in the tying run with a squeeze bunt in the ninth inning, Edwin Encarnacion hit a winning single and the Toronto Blue Jays held their AL wild-card lead, rallying past the Yankees 4-3 Sunday.
“It’s tough, it’s really tough,” manager Joe Girardi said.
Toronto leads Baltimore by 1½ games for the top AL wild-card spot. The Blue Jays have won a team-record eight straight at home against the Yankees, who are 5 ½ games out of wild card spot.
New York ended its 33-inning scoreless streak, but lost for the 11th time in 14 games.
“Obviously we’ve been fighting, playing hard, and we’re just coming up short,” closer Dellin Betances said. “This is what you play for, to be in this position. We haven’t played the best the last week or so.”
After the Yankees scored twice in the ninth off closer Roberto Osuna (3-2) for a 3-2 lead, the Blue Jays bounced back.
Betances walked Melvin Upton Jr. to begin the bottom of the ninth and took third when Kevin Pillar singled off Tyler Clippard (36). Carrera followed with a squeeze bunt, and both runners advanced as Clippard’s attempted scoop sent the ball rolling past catcher Gary Sanchez toward the backstop.
“In retrospect, I wish I hadn’t flipped it because (Sanchez) wasn’t in a position to even have a chance to tag him,” Clippard said. “It was just a reactionary thing, trying to save a run.”
Clippard struck out Devon Travis before Josh Donaldson was intentionally walked to load the bases. Encarnacion’s slow roller between first and second scored the winning run.
“I just feel very happy because we knew we were down,” Encarnacion said through a translator. “I was just very happy to bring that win for the team.”
Toronto took a 2-1 lead on Jose Bautista’s RBI single off Betances in the eighth. The Yankees moved ahead in the ninth when Mason Williams singled home the tying run and Ronald Torreyes followed with a sacrifice fly.
Bautista finished 2 for 2 with two walks and two RBIs, and has reached safely in a season-best 32 straight games. His fourthinning homer off Michael Pineda was his second in two games.
After being held scoreless in their previous three games, New York loaded the bases with one out in the second but Marco Estrada struck out Williams and got Torreyes to pop out.
Didi Gregorius ended New York’s scoreless streak by homering to begin the seventh. It was the first run for the Yankees since Donovan Solano’s tworun homer in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s win at Tampa Bay.
No AL team has gone scoreless in four games since the introduction of the designated hitter. The last to do it was the Washington Senators in September, 1964. EXTRA, EXTRA Gregorius has 53 extra base hits this season, the most by a Yankees shortstop since Derek Jeter had 55 in 2007. ICE TO SEE YOU Canada’s World Cup hockey team watched the game from a suite and received a standing ovation when they were shown on the stadium scoreboard. Canada beat Russia 5-3 on Saturday night to advance to the best-of-three final against Europe. Several Canadian players stopped by the Blue Jays clubhouse following the game. TRAINER’S ROOM Yankees: 3B Chase Headley (back) returned to the lineup after sitting out Saturday . ... 2B Starlin Castro (right hamsting) and OF Aaron Hicks (right groin) were not available.