Tough Loss: Yankees 3, Blue Jays 7

This was a tough loss, so I decided to mix things up a bit and go with an inning by inning recap.

First Inning: Jose Bautista. The man is an absolute offensive machine. Bartolo Colon left a fastball over the heart of the plate and Bautista did not miss it, sending a rocket into the Toronto bullpen. Colon allowed consecutive singles after Bautista homered, but stranded the two runners. In the bottom half, the Yankees went down in order, as Carlos Villanueva struck out the side.

Second Inning: Both pitchers looked very solid. Colon struck out two and Villanueva went 1-2-3 again.

Third Inning: Colon allowed a leadoff single to Rajai Davis, who inexplicably attempted to steal with Jose Bautista at the plate. Why run with the best hitter in baseball at the plate? That's how you kill rallies. In the bottom half, Brett Gardner doubled to give the Yanks their first hit of the game, but was left stranded after Dickerson popped out and Jeter lined out.

Fourth Inning: Colon continues to look solid. After a lineout, he struck out the next two batters. Curtis Granderson got things started in the bottom half with a leadoff walk, and Mark Teixeira squeaked a single through the right side to set up first and third with no one out. A-Rod struck out for the first out of the inning, but Robinson Cano's sac fly tied the game at 1.

Fifth Inning: Colon still looks good. Two strikeouts and a pop out give him another quick inning. Other than Derek Jeter's fly out to the warning track, the Yanks went quietly again. Villanueva pitched very well. His final line: 5 IP, 5 strikeouts, 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run.

Sixth Inning: Two intentional walks issued will bring questions up about Girardi's managerial decisions, but I agreed with both. After a leadoff double, the Yanks intentionally walked Bautista. Following the walk, a sac bunt left the second and third with one out. Another intentional walk loaded the bases for Aaron Hill, who has been in a year and a half long slump. Give him credit, he got to Colon and gave the Jays a 2-1 lead. Colon then lost the strike zone, walked in a run, and gave up a bases clearing double to Arencibia to open the game up: 6-1 Jays.

Colon's final line: 6 IP, 8 strikeouts, 7 hits, 4 walks, and 6 runs.

If the Yankees were going to come back in this game, they had a chance in the sixth. With 1st and 3rd and one out, Cano hit a tailor-made double play ball that was mishandled by Yunel Escobar. Replays showed A-Rod was out at second, but the call stood. The score was 6-2, and the Yankees had 1st and 2nd with 1 out, but Russell Martin popped out and Posada grounded out to end the threat.

Seventh Inning: Hector Noesi replaced Colon, and had a 1-2-3 inning. Jon Rauch had his own 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half.

Eighth Inning: After Aaron Hill's double, Arencibia knocked in his 4th run of the game with a line drive to left. In the bottom half, the Yanks had another chance to get back in the ballgame. Grandy led off the inning with his third walk of the game. Tex struck out, but back to back singles from A-Rod and Cano made it 7-3. However, Russell Martin popped out and Posada grounded out again to end the threat.

Ninth Inning: 1-2-3 for Noesi. In the bottom half, Gardy got things started with a leadoff hit, but a groundout and two strikeouts ended the game.

The Yankees had plenty of chances but they did not deliver. The team went 2-15 with RISP and left 8 men on base. They struck out 10 times and only had 6 hits. Its hard to win games that way. However, there were a few bright spots. Granderson walked three times, A-Rod had two hits, Cano drove in three runs, and Gardy had two hits.

For the most part, I thought Colon pitched very well until he lost the zone. Maybe two intentional walks did that to him. I can't know for sure, but he was pitching very well before that.

All we can do is hope for a win tomorrow.

Box Score.

Play of the Game: Arencibia's double.