Pesky Is As Pesky Does

The Yankees went into last night's game tied with the Baltimore Orioles for not only 1st place in the American League East, but the best record in Major League Baseball. Their opponents in this 3-game series were the Toronto Blue Jays, with the worst record in MLB.

The reason I call them "the pesky Blue Jays," or "those pesky Blue Jays," is that, no matter whether the Yankees are good or bad, no matter whether the Jays are good or bad, the Jays seem give the Yankees trouble. Such was the case again last night. Pesky is as pesky does.

Luis Severino started for the Yankees, and he gave up 2 runs in the 2nd inning, and 3 more in the 6th before being removed. Meanwhile, the Yankees could get nothing going against Marco Estrada, who usually pitches well against them. They didn't get a baserunner until the 3rd, when Austin Romine and Brett Gardner singled, but were stranded.

With 1 out in the 4th, the Yankees got 3 straight singles, by Starlin Castro, Jacoby Ellsbury and Aaron Judge, but only got 1 run before Greg Bird grounded into a double play, and that was all the scoring for the Bronx "Bombers" on the night.

Ronald Torreyes singled in the 5th. In the 6th, Castro singled, and Ellsbury reached 1st on catcher's interference. In the 9th, against reliever Danny Barnes, Ellsbury drew a leadoff walk. This time, the cliche about leadoff walks being a killer did not hold true. Ellsbury stole 2nd, but Judge grounded out. Bird reached on an error, but Ellsbury had to stay at 2nd. Aaron Hicks grounded into a fielder's choice that got himself to 1st and Ellsbury to 3rd, but eliminated Bird. And Torreyes grounded out to end it.

Blue Jays 7, Yankees 1. WP: Estrada (1-1). No save. LP: Severino (2-2).

The series continues tonight, with Masahiro Tanaka starting against Mat Latos. And the Yankees had better win. Because last night was embarrassing.