Fans should all be familiar with the Yankees’ “formula” of Betances to Miller to Chapman, but it seems NY has developed another, less positive, formula. “Nine times out of 10 they’re going to be there to help us”.
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“Off the bat, as I watched it, I just thought there was no way that ball was going to be caught, ” Blue Jays left-hander J.A. Happ said.
The Tampa Bay Rays left Toronto on May 18 having outscored the Blue Jays by an embarrassing 31-7 margin over the course of a three-game sweep.
A strong performance by starter Aaron Sanchez, who improved to 5-1, was backed up later by the offence, as the home team didn’t score until the fifth inning. Four Toronto relievers, including closer Roberto Osuna, were unavailable against NY.
“I look at them all the time”, Gibbons said. “I can’t think of any games where he’s struggled much”.
“We are playing good baseball all the way around”.
Given the starting matchup here, Tanaka seems the better play. Batting sixth for the third time this season, he went 1 for 4 with a double.
All told, the Jays have won seven of their past eight and 10 of 13. CC Sabathia gave up two runs Tuesday in six-plus innings and inhaled a loss.
“I’ve tried to shake the order up, I’ve tried to play different guys, make sure guys are rested”, manager Joe Girardi said.
“I’m able to start throwing it for strikes now, which is beneficial to me knowing that they have to respect it”.
Toronto acquired former closer Jason Grilli from the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday for minor league pitching prospect Sean Ratcliffe.
Kevin Pillar has a pretty good idea that when he gets a ball in his sights, he is going to catch it, no matter how hard it might seem to those in the stands or watching on television.
Upon entering the game, Grilli put himself into the Jays’ record books. His father, Steve Grilli, made one appearance for the Jays in 1979, and the two joined John Mayberry and John Mayberry Jr., as the only father/son duos to play for the club in its history.
“Those guys aren’t going to be flawless”, he said. “[Sabathia] pitched a great game, he’s been awesome all year”.
“There is an energy here I have craved for a while”.
“As a unit, we obviously haven’t scored the number of runs we expected to score”, said left fielder Brett Gardner, who was 0-for-3 with a walk on Wednesday.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Blue Jays offense teed off against Kirby Yates, as Edwin Encarnacion’s two-run single made it 4-0. Michael Saunders followed with an RBI double. Darwin Barney then hit a two-run single but was caught in a rundown between first and second.
Josh Donaldson punched Tanaka’s hanging, 1-and-2 slider to right to make it 1-0.
Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka went six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits. He walked two while striking out six – including at least one whiff on his fastball, curve and change. Toronto then will meet the Tigers in Detroit for three, with its next home game on June 9 against Baltimore.
“Early in the year our pitching would be good and we weren’t scoring runs or the other way around”, Barney said. Friday’s game will mark the Blue Jays’ 33rd against AL East teams already this season, more than any other team in the division.
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“My son is actually making me a little bit famous again”. He started his post-game news conference with some words for revered Sun baseball columnist Bob Elliott, who is retiring.
