Yanks Don't Believe the Hype, Smack Those Pesky Blue Jays

The Yankees started a home series last night, against those pesky Toronto Blue Jays, with their new pitching acquisitions and Jose Reyes.

It hasn't worked out for them. They were 9-13 coming into this game. The new pitchers haven't gotten the job done. And Reyes -- hardly a surprise for any observer of New York baseball -- has been hurt. Munenori Kawasaki was the Jays' shortstop last night.

The Jays jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 2 innings, but then Hiroki Kuroda settled down, and pitched through the 6th without allowing another run. Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson and Mariano Rivera each contributed a scoreless inning with only Joba allowing a baserunner (one single).

The Yankees pulled a run back in the bottom of the 2nd, on a home run by, yes, Jays fans, him again, Vernon Wells (his 6th of the season, and it's still April). In the 3rd, with 1 out, Jayson Nix and Brett Gardner hit back-to-back singles. After a flyout, Robinson Cano hit one out to give the Yankees the lead. (His 7th homer, and, yes, it's still April.) Francisco Cervelli homered in the 4th (his 3rd), to make the final score.

Yankees 5, Blue Jays 3. WP: Kuroda (3-1). SV: Rivera (7). LP: New acquisition Mark Buherle (1-1, his ERA now 6.35).

The series continues tonight, with Ivan Nova starting against new acquisition Josh Johnson. Nova isn't off to a great start: 1-1, 6.14. Johnson is off to a worse one: 0-1, 6.86.

The Boston Red Sox lead the Division by 2 over the Baltimore Orioles, by 2 1/2 over the Yankees (2 in the loss column), 5 over the Tampa Bay Rays, and 6 1/2 over the Jays (7 in the loss column). That's right: For all their hype, the pesky Blue Jays are now SEVEN GAMES BEHIND in the all-important loss column. Did I mention it's still April?

Now, that doesn't mean that, when the regular season ends on September 29, the Jays will be 42 games out (7 games x 6 months). It does mean that maybe we shouldn't snicker at the cliche that "Pitching is 75 percent of baseball." The Jays figured it out, they just didn't get the right pitchers.

UPDATE: The Jays have scratched Johnson from tonight's start. Aaron Laffey, a former Yankee, will start for them instead.