New York @ Toronto preview
Rogers Centre
Last Meeting ( Aug 23, 2010 ) NY Yankees 2, Toronto 3
Jose Bautista got the last word on Monday night.
Bautista belted his major league-leading 39th and 40th homers of the season as the Toronto Blue Jays silenced the New York Yankees, 3-2, on Monday.
The two teams meet again Tuesday night at the Rogers Centre.
Bautista cracked his first home run of the night against Ivan Nova, who was making his first major league start. The blast gave Toronto a 2-1 lead.
Nova struck back in the fifth inning by sailing a pitch over the head of Bautista. The Blue Jays slugger ducked the pitch and then hollered at Nova as both benches and bullpens cleared. Bautista was held back by Yankees manager Joe Girardi as Nova began to shout back at Bautista.
No punches were thrown in the fracas and plate umpire Jerry Meals warned both benches.
Bautista flew out to center field on the next pitch.
After the Yankees tied the game in the sixth inning on a double by Jorge Posada, Bautista spoke again with his bat. Facing reliever David Robertson, who hadn't surrendered a run since early July, Bautista belted an 0-1 pitch into the left field seats to give the Blue Jays the lead for good. It was the sixth multi-homer game of the season for Bautista.
Robertson (2-4) took the loss. The Yankees reliever had not allowed a run in his last 19 appearances, a streak which began on July 2.
Kevin Gregg walked Robinson Cano to lead off the ninth but then set down the next three Yankees for the save. Scott Downs (5-5) picked up the win.
Nova pitched well in the contest. The rookie was called up from Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre as Girardi decided to push his entire starting staff back a day for extra rest.
Nova, who was 12-3 in the minors, allowed just two runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings.
He escaped a major jam in the first inning when Brett Gardner threw out Fred Lewis at the plate to complete a double play. Toronto had loaded the bases on two hits and a walk with no outs, but Nova dodged the bullet.
Cano did the bulk of the damage again at the plate. His double scored the Yankees' first run of the game and he later scored on Posada's double in the sixth.
Toronto's Brandon Morrow allowed two runs and four hits in six innings, striking out 12.
It was the first loss of the season for the Yankees in a game that Alex Rodriguez didn't play. New York is 12-1 on the season without A-Rod, who is on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left calf.
Dustin Moseley starts Tuesday's game for the Yankees. Moseley (3-2) lost to the Blue Jays earlier in the month, 8-2, when he allowed five runs in seven innings on nine hits.
Mark Rzepczynski makes the start for Toronto, which is 11 games out in the race for the wild card. Rzepczynski is 1-1 in six starts on the season, but is 0-1 lifetime against New York with a 7.71 ERA.