Yankees Ninth Inning Rally Falls Short, Toronto Wins 6-4

The New York Yankees jumped on top early for newly-acquired Chris Capuano, but the Blue Jays ultimately held on in the ninth for a 6-4 win.

Capuano ran ito some trouble in his first inning as Yankee. The Jays loaded the bases, but he got Dan Johnson to fly out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the first, the Yankees started a threat of their own. After a Brett Gardner strike out, Derek Jeter singled to left. After a Jacoby Ellsbury fly out, Carlos Beltran was hit by a pitch. Beltran glared at Toronto´s pitcher Drew Hutchison as he made his way to first base. But then Brian McCann struck out to end the inning.

In the top of the third, Derek Jeter handled a ground ball in short left field. He planted and made a strong throw to first to nail the runner with plenty of room to spare. That was followed by a fielding gem by Jacoby Ellsbury in the fourth. Ellsbury raced to left center to extend and haul in a line drive.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Yankees got the scoring started. After a walk to Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann hit his 11th homer to put the Yankees up 2-0. Francisco Cervelli also singled in the inning to extend his hitting streak to eight games.

But Toronto struck back in the fifth.  Jose Reyes walked and then scored on a double by Melky Cabrera. A sacrifice  by Tolleson then tied the score at 2-2.

In the seventh, Joe Girardi replaced Capuano with Shawn Kelley. Kelley walked Cabrera. Bautista then doubled to make it second and third. Dioner Navarro reached on a grounder to McCann at first. McCann hesitated to try and hold the runner on third, leaving the bases loaded.

After Kelley struck out Tolleson,  Girardi brought in Matt Thornton to face Dan Johnson. Johnson blooped an infield single in front of Brian Roberts, that gave Toronto a 3-2 lead. Fortunately, Thornton was able to get out of the inning without further damage with a strike out and a ground out.

The score remained the same until the ninth. Chase Whitley started the frame by walking Bautista and yielding  a double to Navarro.  Girardi then brought in Jeff Francis. But Johnson  got a hold of a Francis pitch for a three-run home run, making it 6-2.

In the Yankees half of the ninth, Ellsbury singled to left. Carlos Beltran then smashed a home run to make it 6-4. But McCann lined out and Headley popped out to end the game.

Capuano gave up two runs and five hits in six innings. The final score ended a Yankees´ 17 game winning streak over Toronto at Yankee Stadium.