Yankees 6, Blue Jays 3: Raul Ibanez belted his 10th career grand slam to snap a tie with two outs in the eighth inning as New York defeated Toronto for the sixth straight time in the Bronx.
To add injury to insult, Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista exited the contest in the top half of the eighth after hurting his left wrist during an at-bat. Bautista, who has a team-leading 27 homers, immediately clutched his wrist after ripping a foul ball and was replaced by Ben Francisco.
X-rays taken after the game were negative. Bautista was scheduled to have an MRI on Tuesday morning.
After Nick Swisher struck out with the bases loaded for the second time in the contest, Ibanez worked the count to 3-1 before jumping on a fastball from Jason Frasor and launching it into the second deck in right field to give the Yankees a 6-2 lead.
Robinson Cano ripped an RBI double past a diving Bautista in the third inning to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 19 games. Russell Martin, who entered the game with a .178 average, belted a solo homer in the second inning for New York.
David Robertson (1-3) worked a scoreless eighth inning in relief of Phil Hughes to pick up the win. Rafael Soriano gave up a run-scoring single to J.P. Arencibia before retiring the final two batters for his 23rd save.
Making his second appearance this season, Aaron Loup (0-1) took the loss.
Toronto's Adam Lind belted a solo homer, his eighth of the season and fifth since being recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Alex Rodriguez experienced neck stiffness during batting practice, prompting manager Joe Girardi to shift him from third base to designated hitter. Eric Chavez played third in his place. ... New York outfielder Brett Gardner was sore after he had four at-bats in a simulated game. Gardner, who is nursing a strained elbow, is expected to have an MRI on Tuesday. ... Toronto's Rajai Davis ended an 0-for-25 drought with a double in the seventh inning. Davis added an infield hit in the ninth. ... Blue Jays left-hander Luis Perez will have Tommy John surgery Tuesday and is expected to be sidelined for more than a year. ... Toronto starter Henderson Alvarez struck out a season-high six batters.
Toronto | NY Yankees | |
Henderson Alvarez | Player | Phil Hughes |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
6.0 | IP | 7.0 |
6 | Strikeouts | 4 |
5 | Hits | 4 |
3.00 | ERA | 2.57 |
Toronto | NY Yankees | |
Rajai Davis | Player | Robinson Cano |
2 | Hits | 2 |
0 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 0 |
3 | TB | 3 |
.500 | Avg | .667 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Toronto | 6 | 1 | 12 | .182 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
NY Yankees | 8 | 2 | 16 | .267 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 |