Yankees stumble as Jays snap Stadium losing streak
NEW YORK – Let's just say the Blue Jays were overdue to leave Yankee Stadium wearing street clothes and smiles. Way, way overdue.
They had been 0 for their past 17 tries to win a game here dating to September of 2012.
But the streak is finally over.
The Yankees helped them end it Saturday with unsteady infield defense and not enough offense, common themes, and bad relief work, not a common theme. Drew Hutchison held them to two runs and five hits over 62/3, Brian McCann and Brian Roberts didn't shine defensively in the go-ahead rally in the seventh, Dan Johnson cracked a three-run homer in the ninth, and Toronto finally beat the Yankees, 6-4.
"It's surprising to me because they have a lot of talented players over there," Joe Girardi said after the Yankees' four-game winning streak was snapped. "You don't ever expect to beat a team that many times, but they got the better of us today."
The streak marked the fourth-longest stretch of domination by a home team since divisional play began in 1969. The Jays had dropped 26 of their last 28 here dating to May of 2011. They had dropped 39 of 50 since the gates opened in 2009. Their last Bronx win came on Aug. 29, 2012.
"When we have a tough year, usually around this place you'd see tire tracks on your neck," Toronto manager John Gibbons said.
McCann filled in again for the injured Mark Teixeira at first, just the catcher's seventh start there this season. The ball found him with runners at second and third and no outs and Shawn Kelley pitching in a 2-2 game in the seventh.
Dioner Navarro hit a ball wide of first to McCann, who stared at Melky Cabrera holding in place down the third-base line before finally looking at first. But he was too far in to get to the bag in time. So he fired to second to try to get Jose Bautista heading back. Safe. Bases loaded.
"The game sped up on me," McCann said. "I didn't make the play."
After Steve Tolleson went down swinging, Matt Thornton came on and got Johnson to hit a blooper on the infield between first and second. Roberts didn't get to it for the catch. The ball took a tricky hop and fell out of the second baseman's glove. He had no play — single, RBI, 3-2.
"Maybe it's a play I'm supposed to make," Roberts said. "I don't know."
"When you lose 17 in a row, you deserve something like that," Gibbons said.
Jeff Francis served up Johnson's three-run homer, and it was 6-2.
It was 6-4 after Carlos Beltran belted a two-run shot off Casey Janssen in the last of the ninth. But Janssen nailed down the final two outs.
"They kind of got the good bounces today and we didn't," Roberts said.
Chris Capuano had kept the Yankees in play in his pinstriped debut after being purchased from the Rockies' organization Thursday. The scoresheet was a little messy with five hits, four walks and one hit batter. But the 35-year-old lefty yielded only two runs in six innings.
"I had a little nerves going in the beginning," Capuano said. "… But I made some good pitches today when I had to and was just thrilled to be out there."
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