Recap: NY Yankees vs. Toronto
Sports Network | August 30, 2008
Bronx, NY (Sports Network) - Jose Bautista stroked a pair of run-scoring singles and started a huge double play in the bottom of the ninth inning, as the Toronto Blue Jays rallied from a four-run deficit to pull out a 7-6 victory over the New York Yankees. The Blue Jays trailed 6-2, but got back into the game with three runs in seventh thanks to a huge error by Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano and completed the comeback with two in the eighth before holding on in the ninth to snap a three-game losing streak. B.J. Ryan came on to close it out for Toronto in the ninth and surrendered a leadoff single to Derek Jeter before walking Bobby Abreu. Alex Rodriguez then hit a hard ground ball to third base and Bautista raced to the bag for the force out before his throw to first barely beat Rodriguez to complete the double play. Rodriguez hit into his 11th double play of the month. He has just one RBI in the ninth inning this season. Cody Ransom, who entered the game for Jason Giambi as a defensive replacement, followed with a fly ball to left to end the game, giving Ryan his 25th save. The Yankees had a two-game win streak stopped and fell 6 1/2 games behind Boston in the AL wild card race. The Red Sox host the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night. "That was a game we needed to win," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "We felt we gave that game away." Brandon League (1-2) struck out all three batters he faced in the seventh inning to earn the win for Toronto. John Parrish got the start for the Blue Jays and was tagged for four runs on seven hits in four innings. Darrell Rasner started for New York and cruised through six innings with a 6-2 lead before it all fell apart. Adam Lind led off the seventh for Toronto with a single and Lyle Overbay followed with a tailor-made double play grounder to second. Cano's casual backhand flip toward second was low and skipped past Jeter for an error, opening the floodgates. "Physical errors are going to happen," Girardi stated. Bautista followed with a single to score Lind and Gregg Zaun drew a walk to load the bases. Brian Bruney took over for Rasner and struck out Travis Snider, but Joe Inglett singled to center to score two more, pulling Toronto within 6-5. Bruney retired the next two batters to keep the Yankees in front, but the New York bullpen was unable to hold the lead in the eighth. Vernon Wells led off the eighth with a single and Lind greeted Damaso Marte (0-3) with a base hit. Overbay advanced the runners with a sacrifice and Bautista followed with a single off Edwar Ramirez to chase Wells home with the tying run. Zaun then hit a slow roller to the left side of the infield and the Yankees managed only to get a force at second as Lind crossed the plate with the go-ahead run. The Yankees got the tying run to second in the eighth when Ivan Rodriguez singled with two outs and pinch runner Brett Gardner stole second base, but Johnny Damon grounded to second to end the inning. New York grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Jeter singled with one out, took second on a wild pitch and scored when Alex Rodriguez singled through the left side of the infield with two outs. Rodriguez advanced on another wild pitch and scored on Giambi's single off the glove of Inglett at second base. Toronto reached Rasner for a pair of runs in the fourth when Alex Rios singled and Wells connected for his 15th homer of the season, but the Yankees responded with back-to-back two-out homers from Cano and Ivan Rodriguez in the bottom of the inning to restore a two-run edge. The Yankees tacked on two more in the fifth against Brian Tallet. Jeter led off with a walk and Abreu singled before Giambi walked with one out to load the bases. Xavier Nady popped up, but Hideki Matsui came through with a two- run double to right field for a 6-2 lead. Game Notes Rasner was charged with five runs -- four earned -- on six hits with one walk and one strikeout in six-plus innings...Ivan Rodriguez homered for the second time in a Yankee uniform and has seven for the season...Cano's homer was his 13th of the year...Jeter had two hits and is just nine shy of Lou Gehrig's all-time record of 1,269 hits at Yankee Stadium. Game Notes Rasner was charged with five runs -- four earned -- on six hits with one walk and one strikeout in six-plus innings...Ivan Rodriguez homered for the second time in a Yankee uniform and has seven for the season...Cano's homer was his 13th of the year...Jeter had two hits and is just nine shy of Lou Gehrig's all-time record of 1,269 hits at Yankee Stadium.
