Unable to hold leads, Jays fall to Yankees
NEW YORK It was not a very good episode of the Stro Show on Wednesday night.
The Toronto Blue Jays kept staking their starting pitcher Marcus Stroman to leads against the Yankees, but the diminutive righthander kept letting New York get back into the game. In the end, the Yanks came back from four and three-run deficits to beat the Blue Jays 8-6 on a cool night at Yankee Stadium.
The Jays jumped ahead 4-0 in the first and the Yankees made it 4-3 in their half of the inning. Toronto scored two more in the second off a shaky C.C. Sabathia and the Yanks scored two more in the third, making it 6-5.
Long Island, N.Y., native Stroman, who had a sparkling 2.97 in five starts coming into Wednesday’s game, was pulled after only three complete innings, giving up five runs on six hits while walking three. He was replaced by RHP Ryan Tepera. It was reported during the game that Stroman was pulled because of discomfort in the armpit of his throwing arm.
Steve Pearce, who had been icecold at the plate coming into this series, hit his third homer in two nights in the first inning. He also made a fine diving catch in the fifth on a fading liner hit by Chase Headley. New York outfielder Aaron Judge also hit his third home run in two nights for the Yankees — his 10th home run in his last 14 games. He now has a league leading 13. He also had three hits, including a single in the seventh off Toronto reliever Joe Biagini, who had struck out the previous five batters he had faced.
Pearce took Sabathia over the wall in left centre, a three-run liner, to put the Jays ahead 4-0 after Kevin Pillar previously scored on a Justin Smoak single.
Matt Holliday answered with a three-run homer to centre in the Yankees’ half of the first — Holliday’s 300th career home run. The Jays limited the damage, thanks in part to Russell Martin throwing Judge out at second.
After walking Headley, Stroman was visited by Jays pitching coach Pete Walker.
The Jays put the first two bat- ters on in the second and then with runners at first and third, Pillar hit one right at Sabathia who fielded it with his bare hand, checked Darwin Barney and third and threw Pillar out.
Sabathia loaded the bases with one out in the second and gave up a run by walking Martin.
Kendrys Morales then hit into a fielder’s choice to score Ryan Goins, the Jays jumping ahead 6-3. Sabathia failed to get his considerable girth over to cover first on the play.
Judge smacked his third home run in two games when he unloaded on a 2-0 offering by Stroman in the third, scoring two runs and bringing the Yankees to within 6-5.
Prior to the top of the sixth, Toronto manager John Gibbons went out in the field to have a chat with home plate ump Bill Welke, who had called Pillar out on a curve ball that was clearly outside and gave New York’s Aaron Hicks a free pass to first on what could have been the third strike, although Welke left both teams scratching their heads during the game with some of his balls and strikes calls. New York manager Joe Girardi finally had enough and chirped at Welke enough in the seventh to get tossed.
Sabathia was pulled in the fourth after walking Martin and giving up a single to Morales with none out. He was relieved by Adam Warren, who did a magnificent job of stranding the two runners. The same could be said for Biagini who, after inheriting loaded bases from Tepera, struck out Yankee catcher Kyle Higashioka to end the threat in the fifth.
The Jays had a golden opportunity to put some separation between themselves and the Yanks by putting runners at first and second with one out in the sixth. But Yanks reliever Tyler Clippard struck out Jose Bautista and Martin grounded out to end the inning.
Biagini struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth and started the seventh by striking out Starlin Castro, but then he gave up a single to Judge and a double to Headley. Chris Carter then hit a blooper to shallow left to score Judge and tie the game 6-6.