MIRROR IMAGES, BUT JAYS SHATTER YANKEES' NIGHT

The New York Yankees were back in Yankee Stadium after a sub-par road trip to face a familiar division foe, the Toronto Blue Jays.  The game and series marked the beginning of a stretch of division games that the Yankees face as they work to re-establish some level of comfort in their pennant race against Tampa Bay and Baltimore.  The Toronto game on Monday night was the first of 22 consecutive games against AL East Division foes on the Yankee schedule as August slides into September.

The game was dead even for three and a half innings.  Both teams hit a HR into the Yankee bullpen and each side had an infield single.  Robinson Cano homered for the Yankees and Adam Lind did the same for Toronto.  The game was tied at 1-1 headed into the bottom of the fourth inning.  In the Yankee half of that fourth, New York struck for three runs.  Cano hit his second HR of the game to make the score 2-1.  Mark Teixeira walked and Eric Chavez singled.  Teixeira scored on a on a Russell Martin RBI single to right and Chavez scored on an RBI fielder's choice by Raul Ibanez.  

Martin's single to right ricocheted off the leg of Toronto starter Henderson Alvarez into right field, and Alvarez was forced to leave the game.  The Yankees lost Mark Teixeira to injury in the same inning.  In an odd occurrence, Teixeira was forced to leave the game due to a left leg contusion.  The injury occurred during an at bat when Tex walked.  He limped home on the Martin single and immediately left the game.

In the fifth, once again the teams mirrored one another.  The Jays scored two on a Kelly Johnson walk and an opposite field HR by Yorvit Torrealba.  The Yankees scored two on a Derek Jeter walk and a Nick Swisher 2-run HR to left field.  The score after five was New York 6 and Toronto 3.  The Jays added a run in the seventh on a single by Torrealba and an RBI single by Adeiny Hechavarria.  The Yankees still held the 6-4 lead after eight innings.

The ninth was a Yankee disaster. Rafael Soriano blew a save opportunity.  As he had in the recent past, Soriano lived on the edge as he allowed two singles to Moises Sierra and Rajai Davis.  Soriano also recorded two outs and two strikes on Colby Rasmus.  He could not retire Rasmus.  In fact, he allowed a three-run HR to Rasmus that gave the Jays their first lead at 7-6.

Derek Jeter homered to lead off the bottom of the ninth to tie the score at seven, but that blow only prolonged the Yankee agony.  Derek Lowe relieved Clay Rapada in the 10th and in the 11th inning, he allowed a lead-off single to Torrealba.  Mike McCoy came on to pinch run.  Lowe unleashed an errant pick-off throw to first that rolled down the right field line.  McCoy went to third on the play with nobody out.  He eventually scored the winning run on a ground ball to third by Hechavarria.  Even with the infield drawn in, the Yankees could not keep McCoy from scoring the winning run as Nix inexplicably threw to first to retire Hechavarria.

Cashman's spare parts (Nix and Lowe) failed the team tonight, and Rafael Soriano picked an inopportune time to blow a save.  The Yankees not only failed to solidify their meager lead in the AL East, but lost a full game in the standings to the victorious Orioles.  New York continues down the path of mediocre baseball as the fall to 22-21 since the All-Star Game. Believe me, there is worry in the air.  Sure, we can win the next 2 to win the series from the Blue Jays, but the Blue Jays played like competitors tonight...and they're in last place.  Come on Yanks... let's do this!

Tonight's final:  Toronto 8  New York 7  

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer

Twitter: @yankeefrank23

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