Blue Jays Defeat Yankees, 8-5, in a Wednesday Matinee at Yankee Stadium
By Howard Goldin
BRONX, NEW YORK, August 29- In a game that appeared longer in time than the three hours and 37 minutes it lasted, the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Yanks, 8-5. The victory gave the Blue Jays a series win, two games to one.
Yankees skipper Joe Girardi discerned several reasons for his team’s defeat, “We had a ton of chances and we just didn’t get it done. It was a combination of a lot of little things. We just didn’t play well.”
Although he pitched a fairly effective seven innings, starter CC Sabathia faltered in the third and sixth innings, which resulted in his first loss since June 7. He had been victorious in his last six decisions.
Sabathia did not surrender a hit in five of his seven innings on the mound. The only baserunner in those frames was Edwin Encarnacion, who reached first on an error by Derek Jeter.
The early damage to the Yanks occurred in innings three and six. An error by third baseman Jayson Nix coupled with five hits allowed three unearned runs to score in the third.
After Sabathia retired seven consecutive batters, Alan Lind led off the sixth with a single to right. Yunel Escobar followed with a two-run homer to left. Kelly Johnson and Adiemi Hechavarria singled later in the inning, but Sabathia struck out the side to prevent any further damage.
Sabathia lasted seven innings, giving up five runs, three earned and nine hits. He did not walk a batter and fanned eight. Although the consistent lefty has hurled less than six innings in only one of his 22 starts in 2012, Wednesday’s game was the fifth in his last 11 in which at least five runs were scored off him.
The serious minded and highly responsible starting pitcher gave himself blame for not pitching better, “Falling behind on counts…was my fault. I need to make better pitches. I didn’t do that today. Today was a day we had the lead and I gave it up. That’s my fault.”
Having used David Robertson and Rafael Soriano during each of the previous three contests, the Yanks needed five relievers to complete the final two innings. The pen men did not finish the game successfully, giving up three runs and contributing mightily to the defeat.
The Yanks scored the first two runs of the game in the first. Derek Jeter led off with a single, his 176th hit of the season, first in the majors. He scored on a single by Andruw Jones. Curtis Granderson knocked in the second run on a groundout to second.
In the third, Granderson drove in Nick Swisher and Jones, each of whom had walked, with a double to left.
Each team pushed one run across the plate in the eighth.
Baltimore Orioles, breathing down the necks of the AL East leading Yanks, enter the stadium for a three game series on Friday night. Hiroki Kuroda (12-9) will start for the Yanks and Miguel Gonzalez (5-3) will start for the Orioles on Friday.
When asked if he felt discouraged to next face Baltimore, Girardi responded, “You look forward to the series to put more space between you and them.”
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