Yankees 3, Blue Jays 6: Ninth inning rally falls short as win streak is snapped

The Yankees playoff chances heading into this game were very slim, but a three-game win streak at least left some hope in our minds. The Yankees are still not technically out of the running, but the win streak is now gone as the Blue Jays beat the Yankees 6-3.

It did not take long for the Blue Jays to open the scoring against Chris Capuano. With one out in the inning, Jose Bautista picked up a single. Edwin Encarnacion then hit one over the head of Brett Gardner into center field. Bautista easily scored to make it 1-0 Toronto.

The Yankees would tie the game in the bottom of the third. With two outs, Derek Jeter kept the inning alive with a single that second baseman Steve Tolleson got to, but had no real play on. He would advance to second on a wild pitch. Brian McCann would then punch through a single. Jeter beat the throw home and the game was tied.

An inning later, the Yankees took the lead. With one out in the inning, Chase Headley singled. After Stephen Drew flew out, Ichiro Suzuki then hit a blooper that landed just in the perfect spot in shallow center field. Francisco Cervelli then added a single that scored Headley and made it 2-1.

In the bottom of the fifth, Brendan Ryan was sent up as a pinch hitter for Mark Teixeira, who was taken out due to concerns with his wrist.

A bad inning from Capuano in the sixth gave the Blue Jays the lead back. Bautista led off the inning by drawing a walk. Encarnacion then reached after Drew made a nice play to get to a grounder but then threw it away. Capuano then walked Dioner Navarro to load the bases with still no one out. Danny Valencia would drive home two runs with a double, giving the Blue Jays a 3-2 lead. John Mayberry would fly out to left for the first out of the inning, but it was deep enough for a run to tag up and score. After Dalton Pompey flew out, Capuano was taken out. He went 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks. Chase Whitley came in and got out of the inning, but only after allowing a walk and a hit.

The Yankees couldn't cut into that least in the bottom of the sixth and Whitley came back out to start the seventh. He wouldn't last long as Bautista led off the inning with a home run to make it 5-2. Whitley was immediately taken out. Esmil Rogers came in for Whitley. Rogers came in and struck out the side after allowing a single to Encarnacion. After another scoreless inning from the Yankees' offense, David Huff piched a scoreless inning himself in the eighth.

The Yankees got a little something going in the bottom of the eighth when Chris Young picked up a one-out double. Headley then drew a walk with Young moving to third after a ball four wild pitch by Aaron Sanchez. Brett Cecil came in and promptly struck out Drew for the second out. Ichiro would then ground out, ending that rally.

David Phelps came in to pitch the ninth inning. He walked Bautista to start the inning. Bautista would move to second on a wild pitch and score on a single by Navarro. That made it 6-2.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees had one last chance to score. After Cervelli grounded out, Gardner picked up a single. He moved to second on defensive indifference and would score when Jeter doubled. That cut the Toronto lead to three runs. McCann was then hit by a pitch, which improbably brought the tying run to the plate. Unfortunately, that was in the form of Brendan Ryan, who struck out. That left the game up to Young. Young worked a full count, but wound up popping one up to end the game. The mini win streak was over the Blue Jays got a 6-3 win.

The finale of the Yankees-Blue Jays series tomorrow will feature the return of Masahiro Tanaka. Game will start at 1:05 eastern and I'm sure the mood will be a happy but cautious one.

Box score.