Just before they get their season opener at home, the New York Yankees capped off a successful visit to Canada with a 6-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays which meant winning the series as CC Sabathia got his first win of the season and the duo of Brett Gardner and Kelly Johnson had a very good day at the plate.
Sabathia pitched for six innings, allowing 7 hits and four runs, walking nobody and striking out six. The Blue Jays didn’t score on the relieving crew, with David Robertson coming to close the game and ending up with his second save of the season.
He was down in the zone, his ball was sinking like it was supposed to, his changeup was good, his slider was good. I was encouraged.
After a shaky start for Sabathia, which included Melky Cabrera hitting a home run (his third of the season and the series) and Maicer Izturis hitting a single, Sabathia honed in and retired 16 of the next 17 batters he faced. The Blue Jays were back on top of him in the sixth with Dioner Navarro and Erik Kratz getting three runs that weren’t enough at the end.
The Yankees took a 3-0 lead with just one hit. Jacoby Ellsbury got his first RBI of the season by grounding out which helped Brett Gardner score, and Kelly Johnson double helped both Brian McCann and Alfonso Soriano reach home plate. In the 4th inning the Yankees extended their lead; first with Yangervis Solarte hitting a ground rule double that helped Brian Roberts score while Brett Gardner followed that with his first home run of the season, making it 6-1 and taking Solarte home with him.
It was a rough start for Drew Hutchinson (1-1, 6.23 ERA) who allowed six hits and six runs in the 3.1 innings he lasted.The Blue Jays manager agreed that even in his win against Tampa Hutchinson wasn’t pitching as expected, and that he’s going through a rough patch to start the season.
Everyone on the Yankees lineup got a hit except for Brian Roberts, but his walk helped out in scoring, which meant everyone got on base at some point during the game. The Yankees were wasteful by hitting only 3-for-13 with runners in scoring positions, leaving 7 men on base during the game.
Derek Jeter continues his farewell tour from Major League Baseball, getting a couple of hits that move him up to 8th on the all-time list with 3320, leaving Paul Molitor behind. He needs exactly 100 more hits to leap over Carl Yastrzemski at 7th with 3419.
It’s special. I grew up watching Paul, I played against him briefly and I have a lot of respect for him and his career.
The Yankees open their first home series of the season (Facing the Baltimore Orioles) with Hiroki Kuroda on the mound, hoping to bounce back from his loss against Houston. The Blue Jays get to host the Astros on a 3-game home series, with Mark Buehrle to open the series. Buehrle had an excellent opening game for the Blue Jays against the Rays, playing for 8.2 innings, allowing just four hits and striking out 11 batters.