BY MIKE CORMACK
sportsnet.ca
TORONTO-- After a red-hot start in the four-game series against the New York Yankees, the Toronto Blue Jays offence dried up over the weekend under an equally hot sun and Yankees starting pitching.
With MLB home run leader Jose Bautista sidelined for the third straight game with an ankle sprain, the Jays struggled to score again under the sun, this time in a 7-2 loss Sunday in front of 36,586 sweltering fans at the Rogers Centre.
Toronto is now 13-25 in day games in 2011.
“Whether it’s day-time, night-time or early morning his absence in the lineup is a hole to fill. It’s a substantial loss when he’s not in there day in and day out.” said Jays manager John Farrell. “The day-time record speaks for itself. It’s been an Achilles heel for us at this point.”
The loss was the Jays (47-49) second straight following a five-game win streak and it allowed their A.L. East rivals to escape with a four-game series split after having outscored them in the first two games by a combined tally of 23-8.
The Jays pounded out 31 hits in the first two games, but managed just five off of C.C. Sabathia in Saturday's 4-1 loss, and four off of Sunday starter Phil Hughes (1-2), who struck out five over his six innings of work in just his second start since coming off the 60-day DL with right shoulder inflammation.
Meanwhile Toronto starter Carlos Villanueva (5-2) entered the game having thrown five straight quality starts and posting a 2.89 ERA over that span, and early on looked to be on a similar pace, but ran into trouble in the top of the fourth.
With the score tied at 1-1, Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher led off with a single before East York, ON native Russ Martin cashed him two batters later with an RBI double to right-centre.
An Eduardo Nunez single to left and a Ramiro Pena sacrifice fly later made it 3-1. Following a Brett Gardner single to right, Villanueva had a chance to escape the inning with the Jays down only a pair, but Curtis Granderson ripped a key, two-out double down the right-field line to score Gardner and Nunez to make it 5-1.
“The elusive third out in the fourth inning proved to be the difference today,” said Jays manager John Farrell.
Villanueva -- who said he pitched better as the game went on -— said his start came down to one bad inning.
“In the fourth inning, they got aggressive on me and I left the ball up,” he explained. “The location was the trouble. I think I should have done a better job of keeping us in there.
Boone Logan closed things out in the ninth for New York in a non-save situation.
The lone bright spot for Toronto offensively was Travis Snider, who with a pair of hits including a RBI single in the bottom of the second, continued his torrid pace at the plate since being recalled from triple-A Las Vegas.
The 23-year-old, who is batting 18-for-45 (.400) with 12 RBIs in 11 games back with the big club, said although he’s at ease with his new swing, his work is far from done.
“The adjustments I’ve made over the past couple of months are something I’ve become comfortable with,” he said. “I’m not getting caught up in short-term success or failure. I don’t think there’s ever a time as a hitter where you can say ‘OK, I’m where I need to be and can I sit on that.’ It’s something I have to continue to work at—staying on top of what’s gotten me to this point.”
Some help for Snider may be coming soon as Bautista appears on track to return possibly as early as Tuesday.
"He continues to improve," said Jays manager John Farrell prior to the game. "Today, we'll go down in the cage, do some change of balance of drills, swing off a tee. He's responding really well to treatment."
The Jays have an off day Monday before beginning a three-game set at home against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday.
Jason Frasor pitched the ninth for Toronto and gave up a run. It was his 453rd career appearance with the team, surpassing Duane Ward for most in club history.
NOTES: Jays first basemen Adam Lind went 0-for-4 on Sunday, his 28th birthday.
On Sunday afternoon, Jays pitcher Jesse Litsch announced on Twitter that he will be staying with Las Vegas. Litsch said " And it looks like I'm heading for an option to Vegas it sucks but I have to go with the punches and hopefully get back up there sometime."
