The New York Yankees had a 0.84 bullpen ERA coming into Wednesday’s game, but Ivan Nova let up four earned runs to help drive that ERA to 2.34.
Advertisement
The visiting Yankees have won their last four games with Brian McCann starting at catcher, but he’ll be replaced in the lineup by Austin Romine. Headley singled to left. “You play these teams in your division and you need to beat them”. Bautista battled the dominant Yankees reliever to a 3-2 count, but Betances dropped a devastating curveball on Bautista for a strikeout to end the inning.
The Jays knew all about Andrew Miller, who recorded the save, about Dellin Betances, who pitched 11/3 scoreless innings.
The Blue Jays worked back-to-back walks off Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka in the opening frame but couldn’t push a run across. Ellsbury was 2 for 5 with a stolen base. “He was a good player here”.
“He’s off right now”, manager John Gibbons said. “There’s no secret about that”.
The right-hander has also stymied Jose Bautista, who is 3 for 19 in this matchup, and Kevin Pillar, who is 1 for 10. Left-hander Brett Cecil (0-2) took the loss for Toronto, allowing a leadoff single to Chase Headley followed by a walk to Starlin Castro in the seventh.Didi Gregorius sacrificed the runners to second and third.
“It was just a matter of time before we finally barrelled a couple of balls and found some holes”, said Ryan Goins, who had a pair of doubles among his three hits and knocked in a pair of runs.
Happ has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 11 of his past 12 starts.
Still, grinding through down periods is never easy, and their most lopsided win of the season gave the Blue Jays some relief. The right-hander yielded five runs in five innings in that game but gave up one in 6 1-3 innings in his only start against Toronto, a 2-1 loss in 10 innings August 7. “My guess is that he’s going to move around [defensively]”, Girardi said of Swisher splitting time between first base and the outfield.
Get breaking news and SI’s biggest stories instantly.
“My dad has a little shrine at home”, Barbato said. Donaldson has hit safely in all eight games.3.
The Blue Jays’ hitters are a formidable bunch, with the capability of rattling off runs in bushels. The deal, which began in 2012, now runs through the 2018 season.
Venditte had been pitching for the Buffalo Bisons, Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate, and had appeared in two innings this season. Chapman is working out at the Yankees’ minor league complex in Florida while serving a 30-game suspension stemming from baseball’s new domestic violence policy. Rumbelow will have surgery Friday. He took third on a groundout to third and scored on a single to right by Troy Tulowitzki.
ROYALS 4, ASTROS 2: Salvador Perez tagged Houston reliever Ken Giles for a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning, lifting Kansas City to a road win. He’s 4-1 with a 2.43 ERA in five career starts against the Yankees.
Advertisement
The Blue Jays called up ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte before the game.
