Six innings from the starter. One inning each from Joba Chamberlain, Rafael Soriano, and Mariano Rivera. Frank Sinatra plays.
It's a beautiful formula when it all goes according to script, which it did Saturday in the Yankees' 5-4 win over the Blue Jays at the Stadium.
The Yankees succeeded without the use of the home run, an absolute rarity to this point. This was the most runs they've put up in a game without the longball.
A.J. Burnett was underwhelming but good enough to pick up the victory. Burnett didn't have good command of his curveball but still went six innings, allowing four runs on nine hits. Perhaps most encouraging was his walk total — zero. He's now 4-1 with a 3.93 ERA in six starts. April has been a good to Burnett in pinstripes — he's 9-1 in the month in his three years with the Yankees.
The Yankees were no-hit from the fourth inning on, but they did their damage with two runs in the second and three in the third against losing pitcher Kyle Drabek. Alex Rodriguez was given a regular off day, and the rest of the Yankees managed seven hits in the first three innings, plating all of their runs. Russell Martin continued his All-Star push with an RBI single to start the scoring. Eric Chavez, Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson and Derek Jeter also drove in runs.
The biggest play of the game might have been Burnett's final pitch. The Jays entered the sixth inning down 5-3, but put runners on second and third with nobody out. After a sac fly cut the lead to one, Burnett caught Edwin Encarnacion looking on a fastball and Martin threw out Juan Rivera, who had foolishly attempted to steal third.
Soriano's clean eighth was perhaps the most important subplot. The $35 million setup man was hardly dominant — Juan Rivera just missed a go-ahead two-run homer with a warning-track flyout to end the inning — but Soriano did what he was supposed to do. With the pressure mounting, he responded. We'll see if he can build off this.
The Yankees and Blue Jays will cap their weekend series with a 1:05 p.m. ET start on Sunday. Ivan Nova will attempt to build on his career-best 6 1/3-inning outing earlier this week when he takes the mound opposite right-hander Jesse Litsch.
Dan Hanzus is a writer for Pinstripe Alley. He can be reached at dhanzus@gmail.com or on Twitter at @danhanzus.