The way they hit the ball is just unbelievable.
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He twirled seven innings of five-hit ball in this one. But it is the Yankees, who sit slightly behind Toronto in each of those offensive categories, who lead the division and it is the surging Blue Jays, who won for the eighth time in their past 10 games Thursday night, who are the pursuers.
“He’s done it before”, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said of Price performing on big stages.
Donaldson brought Toronto to within a run with a home run to deep left field, driving in Troy Tulowitzki.
The Twins have been held to one run in four of their past five games, losing all four.
Encarnacion hit an RBI double in the first, homered in the third, walked and scored in the fifth and doubled home a run in the sixth. “Whoever is pitching batting practice for the Yankees today won’t give up nine straight”, Price said, smiling, and again showing the ease and confidence he feels with his new team. He is 30-19 with a 3.68 ERA in 54 appearances against Minnesota.
Falling for the 10th time in 12 games and now 5-14 since the all-star break, the Twins are in a stretch of 25 games out of 35 against clubs that entered Thursday with winning records.
Over the past few days, and particularly on the weekend, “our daily sales volumes (tickets we sell on a day-to-day to basis for all future games) were more than quadruple what we normally sell”, Jason Diplock, the Jays vice-president of ticket sales and service, said in an email.
Wild card teams only get a one-game winner-takes-all shot at more playoff games after a 162-game regular-season grind.
Torii Hunter has been around the block once or twice so when he talks about the rolling thunder that is the Toronto Blue Jays it carries some weight.
Olerud led the AL in hitting with a. 363 average in 1993 as he helped the Jays to their second consecutive World Series title. 500 for the first time since September of past year. We all said he went all-in, and we all know what happens if you go all-in and lose. “You’ll also get a feel for the speed of pitches when you’re up at the plate”.
Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson (20) tags out New York Yankees second baseman Jose Pirela (36) in the third inning at Rogers Centre. However, those trades wouldn’t have been such a big deal if they didn’t already have a trove of good players on their roster. Encarnacion hit the first pitch to left for his 21st homer of the season, extending the margin to 4-0. The cost was heavy in prospects, but the Blue Jays needed to do something to change what was a boring narrative for too many seasons.
Starter Kyle Gibson (8-9) was chased in the fifth after allowing eight earned runs, matching a career worst set in his second big-league start against the New York Yankees on July 4, 2013. The right-hander gave up nine hits in 4 2-3 innings.
“There’s just a different feeling”, Mark Buehrle said after recording his 12th victory. Pillar got a standing ovation as he jogged back to the dugout. Five relievers came in for the Twins after Duffey was pulled from the mound. Minnesota hopes Milone will be ready to return as soon as he is eligible on August 16.
Offense could be particularly tough for the Yankees (61-46) to come by in this series with R.A. Dickey, Price and Marco Estrada on tap for Toronto. RHP Cody Anderson (2-3, 3.38 ERA) starts for the Indians.
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New York is 23-8 in their last 31 home games, 17-7 in their last 24 games, and 4-0 in Eovaldi’s last four starts.
