THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT; YANKEES SWEEP JAYS

Even with a 7-3 record in the last ten games and a four game winning streak, the New York Yankees held only a paltry half-game lead in the AL East Division race entering the series finale with the Blue Jays.  Perhaps an even scarier part of the equation is the lack of a safety net.  The Yankees do hold a 4.5 game lead over the Angels for the final wild card slot, but all you really get from that is a "play-in" opportunity for the the real playoff show.  This new playoff structure makes wining the division crown an essential ingredient for a chance at long-term survival in October. 

 

The Yankees got help from aging veterans Andy Pettitte and Ichiro Suzuki yesterday in the sweep of a double-header, as they moved on toward that elusive division championship.  The Yanks would need plenty more of the same on Thursday night and for the remainder of the regular season schedule.  Unfortunately, the game did not start particularly well for the Bombers.  The offense looked anemic for two innings, mustering only a Russell Martin walk. 

 

Meanwhile starter Phil Hughes allowed a pair of early runs on two doubles, two walks, two hit batsmen, and a single.  The Yankees trailed 2-0 after 2.5 innings. 

 

In the bottom of the third, the Yankee offense stirred a little and produced a run on an Ichiro Suzuki solo HR to right field that cut the Toronto lead to 2-1.  In the fourth, Toronto's starter Aaron Laffey faltered and second baseman Kelly Johnson committed a costly error.  The Yankees took advantage of three walks issued by Toronto pitchers around the Johnson error.  Red-hot Ichiro ripped a double to right field to make those Jays' transgressions costly. 

Ichiro's hit scored two runs (Martin and Granderson).  After another walk, to Jayson Nix, and an RBI single by Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher powered his third grand-slam HR of the 2012 season.  It was also the 10th grand-slam HR of the season by the Yankees, equalling the team high in that category.  The Yankees lead was 8-2 after four innings.

 

Phil Hughes seemed intent on keeping Toronto in the game.  He allowed a two-run HR to Moises Sierra in the fifth and the Jays cut the lead to 8-4.  Hughes was removed after that fifth inning having thrown 102 pitches.  Hughes did manage to strike out four batters in the fourth inning, becoming only the second Yankee pitcher to achieve that feat in club history, but overall his outing was less than satisfactory and required an already over-worked bullpen to pitch nearly half of the game.

 

After the Yankees added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth on a Granderson double, a Nix double and RBI, and an RBI single by Jeter, Derek Lowe righted the ship with two scoreless innings.  In fact Lowe pitched so well that pundits were wondering aloud why Girardi had removed him from the game at that point with New York holding a 10-4 lead.  The decision almost proved costly as Cory Wade and Joba Chamberlain conspired to yield three runs on five hits in a scary eighth inning.  Suddenly, the seemingly safe lead was down to 10-7 and Girardi was forced to warm Raphael Soriano for the fourth time in three days.

 

Soriano could not go, and David Robertson was assigned the closer role for the night.  DRob was more than up to the task as he struck out the side in the top of the ninth.  Robertson earned his second save of the season and preserved Phil Hughes' 16th win of 2012.  The Baltimore Oriole juggernaut was off on Thursday, so the Yankee win gives the club a full game lead in the standings with only thirteen games to play. 

 

The ugly, but very happy, final on Thursday night:  New York 10  Toronto 7.       

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer

Twitter: @yankeefrank23

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