1st inning: Whatever Carlos Beltran is doing differently these days, he needs to keep doing it, because he hit a home run for the 2nd game in a row, his 12th of the season, and the 385th of his career -- tying Dwight Evans on the all-time list. Yankees 1, Blue Jays not yet come to bat.
5th inning: "MVP candidate" Josh Donaldson hits a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Blue Jays 1, Yankees 1. This was Masahiro Tanaka's only shaky inning.
6th inning: MVP candidate Mark Teixeira (notice no quotation marks) hits a home run to give the Yankees back the lead. It's his 31st "Teix Message" of the season, and the 394th of his career. Yankees 2, Blue Jays 1.
8th inning: Teix singles home Chris Young. This followed another big hit by Beltran, a doule, that moved Young over to 3rd. Yankees 3, Blue Jays 1. Later in the inning, Greg Bird got his 1st major league hit. Maybe there be many, many more.
9th inning: Jacoby Ellsbury smacks a shot up the middle that pitcher Aaron Loup can only deflect into center field for a hit, scoring John Ryan Murphy.
Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, Joe Girardi tossed his infamous binder aside, and let Masahiro Tanaka pitch a complete game -- not only trusting his starting pitcher, but giving his bullpen a well-deserved rest. Indeed, it may have had more to do with how many pitches Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller had thrown just 17 hours earlier than how many Tanaka had thrown today.
Despite the fact that the starter had gone all the way, the bottom of the 9th was a lot less stressful for Yankee Fans today than it was last nigh. Tanaka got ex-Yankee Dioner Navarro to fly to left, Kevin Pillar to ground to 3rd, and Ryan Goins to ground to short.
Yankees 4, Blue Jays 1. Next part of message sent: You took a series at our place, now, in a game with much more pressure on both of us, we took a series at your place. Still think you're ready to make a Playoff run? Maybe. Think you're ready to take the American League Eastern Division title? We don't think you are.
WP: Tanaka (9-5). Complete game, so no save. He threw 112 pitches -- for some Yankee pitchers this season, that's been 6 innings' work -- and allowed just 1 run on 5 hits and 3 walks, striking out 8. LP: Marco Estrada (10-7).
The Yankees now lead the Jays by a game and a half -- by 3 games in the All-Important Loss Column.
The series concludes tomorrow afternoon, with a first-pitch time of 1:07 PM. Rookie sensation Luis Severino goes for the Yankees, Drew Hutchinson for those suddenly less pesky Blue Jays.
Come on you Bombers; Finish the sweep!
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