Wild Betances costs Yankees in loss to Blue Jays
NEW YORK — Dellin Betances threw a full-count breaking ball with no bite to Russell Martin that sailed well high and outside, forcing in the go-ahead run with his fourth walk of the eighth inning.
The All-Star reliever swiped at the toss back from catcher Austin Romine as Manager Joe Girardi walked to the mound and fans booed on another long afternoon for the New York Yankees.
“The team is fighting. You can’t put the blame on those guys. I’ll take the blame,” Betances said after Wednesday’s 7-6 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning off Michael Pineda, who also allowed Kevin Pillar’s leadoff home run in the fourth that put the Blue Jays ahead 5-0.
Aaron Judge started a comeback with his major league-leading 29th home run, a two-run home run in the fourth. The Yankees surged ahead 6-5 when Ji-Man Choi hit a two-run home run in the fifth and Didi Gregorius’ two-run double later in the inning chased Marco Estrada.
Judge’s home run tied Joe DiMaggio’s Yankees rookie record, set in 1936, and Choi’s came in his New York debut.
Martin tied the score 6-6 with a seventh-inning home run against Chad Green, then walked to drive in the go-ahead run in the eighth.
With a runner on first, Roberto Osuna struck out Judge for the final out.
Miguel Montero, making his Blue Jays debut, fouled off a pair of 3-2 pitches leading off their eighth
against Betances (3-4) before taking an inside curve. Worried about a bunt, Betances walked Pillar on four pitches, then put on No. 9 hitter Ryan Goins with four more. He started Jose Bautista with another ball before recovering to throw a called third strike past the slugger.
Judge joined Mark McGwire in 1987 (33) and Jose Abreu in 2014 (29) as the only rookies with 29 home runs before the All-Star break.
ATHLETICS 7, WHITE SOX 4 Sonny Gray pitched six innings and host Oakland defeated Chicago for the second time in two weeks.
RANGERS 8, RED SOX 2 Andrew Cashner held visiting Boston hitless into the sixth inning, Rougned Odor hit an early two-run home run and Texas beat the Red Sox.
ANGELS 2, TWINS 1 Parker Bridwell pitched six scoreless innings, Kole Calhoun hit his 12th home run of the season and Los Angeles beat host Minnesota.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
PIRATES 5, PHILLIES 2 Gerrit Cole pitched six innings and hit a tiebreaking two-run single to lead visiting Pittsburgh over Philadelphia. MARLINS 9, CARDINALS 6 Giancarlo Stanton homered twice and Marcell Ozuna and
Justin Bour also hit home runs as Miami beat host St. Louis.
ROCKIES 5, REDS 3 Jon Gray hit his first career home run an estimated 467 feet and pitched effectively into the sixth inning as Colorado beat visiting Cincinnati.
INTERLEAGUE
CUBS 7, RAYS 3 Jon Jay connected for his third career pinch-hit home run and Ian Happ hit a tiebreaking two-run single an inning later, helping host Chicago rally to beat Tampa Bay.
BREWERS 4, ORIOLES 0 Matt Garza pitched into the seventh inning and Keon Broxton hit a two-run home run to lift visiting Milwaukee over Baltimore. PADRES 6, INDIANS 2 Cory Spangenberg hit a two-run home run, Luis Perdomo won his third consecutive start and San Diego got another rare road victory, beating host Cleveland.
GIANTS 5, TIGERS 4 Ty Blach took a shutout into the seventh inning, and visiting San Francisco beat Detroit. ASTROS 10, BRAVES 4 George Springer drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, Josh Reddick and Marwin Gonzalez each had three RBI, and streaking Houston beat host Atlanta.