Yankees 5 Blue Jays 7
I don't have anything against A.J. Burnett. Anyone would go work somewhere else if offered millions of dollars more than what they would make where they are. But for some reason I take glee in watching the Jays pound him. Of course, I take glee in beating the Yankees anytime.
We scored 7 runs off Burnett in 2.1 innings. He gave up 7 hits, 2 home runs and 3 doubles. John Buck hit his 19th and Vernon Wells hit his 31st home run. I almost feel sorry for Vernon, if Bautista didn't have 52 home runs, we'd be talking about how great it is that Vernon has 32. Travis Snider had 2 of the doubles off Burnett and Overbay had the other. Vernon had 3 hits and 3 RBI. Buck had 2 hits and 2 RBI. Yunel Escobar had a walk and was hit by pitch. Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and John McDonald were our only batters not to reach base. EE and Jose each drove in a run.
Marc Rzepczynski had a great start for 4 innings. He struck out 9 in the first 4 innings, giving up just 2 hits. The 5th didn't go as well. He gave up a walk and a homer to start the inning, then gave up 2 more walks and a single before he got out of the inning. All in, it was a good start for a guy pitching against the Yankees. Cito took him out after the 5th, after 91 pitches. I like pitchers that miss bats, so I'll remain a fan of Scrabble.
Unfortunately, Cito brought in Brian Tallet. He did pitch a scoreless 6th, then gave up 2 singles and a home run before Cito pulled him. Josh Roenicke and Jesse Carlson got an out each to get out of the inning. Scott Down pitched a perfect 8th with 2 k. Kevin Gregg pitched the 9th getting his 36th save. Gregg took pity on our blood pressure by getting 3 quick outs.
Jays of the Day are Scrabble (.149 WPA), Wells (.136) and Buck (.101). Honorable mention to Snider for the 2 doubles, Downs and Gregg. Tallet (-.097) gets the Suckage award. Mr, Gaston, sir, could you let Tallet sit out the rest of the season. His ERA is 6.46 now and climbing. He hasn't had a appearance without giving up a run since 2008 or at least that is the way it seems.
C.C. Sabathia is to start for the Yankees tomorrow. Kyle Drabek goes out there for the Jays. CC is listed at 290 pounds (tho I'd guess he is actually some heavier) while Drabek is listed at 190. I wonder how often there is a 100+ pound difference in the weights of starting pitchers in a game. Oh well, no weight classes in baseball.
It is always great to beat the Yankees. Add in that it gives us 81 wins on the season, so we can't finish the season under .500 and life is good.
By the way...you can put your hands down now.