Yankees Win Third Straight, Ellsbury Injured In The Process

The New York Yankees won their third straight game with a 5-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium Friday night.

Hiroki Kuroda got off to a rocky start in the first. Jose Reyes hit a double into the right field corner. That brought up Jose Bautista. Bautista smoked a hot shot toward Derek Jeter. Jeter scooped it up with ease, showing his trademark quick hands. The Yankees were able to erase Reyes in a rundown, leaving Bautista on base at first. Kuroda then yielded a two-run home run to put Toronto up 2-0.

In the bottom of the first, the Yankees struck back quickly against Jays’ pitcher Mark Buehrle. Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a double that just missed clearing the wall. Derek Jeter then singled and Ellsbury held at third. Brian McCann then singled to left, beating the shift and making the score 2-1.

In the third, Ichiro Suzuki singled to center.  Ellsbury stepped in the batter´s box, still seething from nearly missing a home run in the first. But Ellsbury would not miss this time, sailing one over the right-center field wall to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

All along, Kuroda was settling down. He found his sinker and splitter and began mowing the Blue Jays down. But his early struggles had his pitch count high.

The Yanks were at it again in the fourth. Stephen Drew and Chase Headley scored when Reyes threw wildly to first on an Ellsbury grounder. That increased the lead to 5-2, but Ellsbury left soon afterwards with a hamstring strain.

Toronto inched closer in the fifth. Reyes singled and then attempted to steal second moving to third on an errant throw by McCann. Bautista grounded out as Reyes scored to make the score 5-3.

In the top of the seventh, Mark Teixeira made a diving, web-gem quality catch. With two outs and one runner on, manager Joe Girardi made a pitching change. Kuroda left with a quality start, and Josh Outman entered the game.  Reyes bounced a ground rule double, leaving Toronto with runners on second and third.

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So Girardi replaced Outman with Esmil Rogers. Rogers walked Bautista, the first Yankees’ walk of the night. That brought up Encarnacion with the bases loaded. Rogers got him to ground out to Jeter to end the threat.

Adam Warren entered in the eighth. He struck out two in the frame, and then pitched the ninth to earn the save. Kuroda earned the win to improve his record to 11-9. With  their third straight win the Yankees are still staying alive in the playoff race.

Game Notes:

While the victory Friday night was nice, and pushes the Yankees’ winning streak to three games, keeping them alive for the final Wild Card berth, they were also dealt a crushing blow. Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury suffered a hamstring strain. According to Brendan Kuty of NJ.com, Yankees’ skipper Joe Girardi stated there is a “distinct possibility that Ellsbury will not play again in 2014.”

Stay tuned to Yanks Go Yard for all of your updated coverage of Ellsbury’s status and the Yankees’ quest for the playoffs.

**UPDATE**

A recent Tweet by Kuty, stated that Ellsbury will have an MRI performed in the morning.

Spin: The Yankee center fielder is done for at least the remainder of the weekend, and depending on the results, as Girardi stated, perhaps the remainder of the campaign.