David Robertson saves Yankees' big win over AL East
TORONTO - David Robertson hadn't pitched in a week, so Joe Girardi knew he was going to get his closer into Wednesday night's game no matter what the score.
It was a good thing Robertson was well-rested.
Girardi needed a five-out save from Robertson, who answered the call to seal a much-needed 5-3 win over the Blue Jays as the Yankees avoided being swept in the three-game set at Rogers Centre.
The Yankees snapped their four-game losing streak as they got a quality start from Hiroki Kuroda and a big home run from Mark Teixeira, but it took Robertson's first five-out save of the season to send them into Thursday's off-day feeling a little better about themselves.
'You don't want to come in here and be swept,' Girardi said before the game. 'We want to get closer to them.'
The win did just that, pulling the Bombers back within 2.5 games of the first-place Blue Jays. The Yankees are now 5-4 through the first nine games of their current 15-game run through the American League East.
Next up? The struggling Red Sox, who visit the Bronx for the first time since early-April as they look to climb back into the divisional race.
Kuroda evened his record at 5-5 with 6.1 innings of three-run ball, giving up eight hits and two walks while striking out four.
The starter's night didn't start off promising as Jose Reyes took him deep to right field on his first pitch, the solo shot staking the Blue Jays to a quick 1-0 lead.
The righthander went right back to work, not allowing the homer to faze him as he kept Toronto from scoring again through the fourth. The defense that failed the Yankees on Tuesday assisted Kuroda, who got double plays in the second and fourth to keep the Blue Jays quiet.
Drew Hutchison, who entered the game 0-2 with an 11.74 ERA in two starts against the Yankees this season, got off to a nice start by retiring six straight after Brett Gardner's leadoff double in the first.
Hutchison issued a leadoff walk in the third to Kelly Johnson, who scored from first on Francisco Cervelli's double to tie the game.
The 23-year-old nearly got out of the inning with the score tied, but Jacoby Ellsbury put the Yankees ahead with a two-out single, then Teixeira drilled a two-run blast to right field, his 14th of the season.
Toronto trimmed the lead to 4-3 in the fifth on Melky Cabrera's two-out, two-run single.
Hutchison (5-6) was charged with four runs on seven hits and two walks over six innings, striking out six.
The Yankees were clinging to their one-run cushion when they loaded the bases against lefty Rob Rasmussen with nobody out in the seventh.
Sergio Santos came in and limited the damage to a Teixeira sacrifice fly, getting out of the inning with only one run crossing the plate.
Kuroda went back out for the seventh, giving up a leadoff single. He got an out before Joe Girardi turned to the bullpen for the final 2.2 frames.
Shawn Kelley allowed a single to put the tying runs on base, but he retired Cabrera on a fly ball, then handed off to Matt Thornton. Toronto executed a double-steal to move the tying runs into scoring position, but Thornton got Adam Lind to hit a comebacker to the mound, ending the threat to hold the two-run lead.
Adam Warren, who took the loss Tuesday after giving up an unearned run, retired Edwin Encarnacion to start the eighth, but Dioner Navarro singled, bringing the tying run to the plate.
Girardi raced to the mound to make a change, bringing in Robertson for his first outing since last Wednesday. He showed no sign of rust, striking out Juan Francisco and Colby Rasmus to end the inning, then tossed a scoreless ninth for his 18th save.
Post a Comment for "David Robertson saves Yankees' big win over AL East"