NEW YORK — Redeemed to some extent by the pegging and pay-back homer confrontations with Ryan Dempster over the weekend, Alex Rodriguez found a bit of refuge from all the hate at Yankee Stadium, at least when he wasn’t striking out.
As for the Toronto Blue Jays, they continued to find misery in the Bronx, losing Jose Bautista and Maicer Izturis to injury before getting swept in a day-night doubleheader Tuesday, dropping to 1-10 this against the Yankees with their club record 11th straight defeat in New York.
Jayson Nix, whose solo shot in the seventh tied things up, won the nightcap 3-2 with an RBI single off Darren Oliver in the bottom of the ninth, hours after Chris Stewart’s three-run homer in the sixth inning, set-up in part by an A-Rod single, secured an 8-4 victory in the opener.
Death by the bottom of the lineup on both fronts.
“I tip my hat to our guys, they’re battling, they’re hanging in every game, we’re just not winning them,” said a weary John Gibbons. “That’s the way it goes, sometimes you’re not good enough. Any particular night, we’re right there, we just can’t put that extra run across and it’s come back to bite us. … “But they’re gutting it out.”
Bautista left the first game with soreness in his left hip, and by the time second game ended, he was on the disabled list with a bone bruise. Izturis, meanwhile, left the second game in the sixth inning after suffering a sprained left ankle stepping on first base on a groundout in the fifth, and wasn’t sure about his status.
An extended absence for either player will only add to the woes for the Blue Jays, who at 57-69 are a season-low 12 games under .500. Bautista is the 19th different player on the team to hit the DL this year.
“I know all guys go through injuries but this is starting to get a little ridiculous,” lamented Mark Buehrle. “Guys are dropping like flies here. But this is why we play the season. I said that in spring training, obviously we look good on paper but we have to go out there and stay healthy and when certain guys go down you have to have certain guys step in.
“We’re in a situation where we’re not doing too good right now, a bunch of guys are falling down and getting hurt and we have to have guys fill in.”
A terrific outing from Buehrle went to waste when Nix tied things up with his third homer of the season, and the Blue Jays squandered opportunities to reclaim the lead in the eighth and ninth innings.
Nix’s walkoff hit in the ninth took Rodriguez off the hook after he came up with two on and one out in the eighth and hit into a 6-4-3 double play against Sergio Santos.
The largely positive reaction for him at home was a result of one reckless act by Dempster, the Boston Red Sox right-hander suspended five games and fined by Major League Baseball for intentionally throwing at and hitting the tarnished third baseman.
He accomplished what no team of pricey PR experts could — turn A-Rod into a sympathetic figure, even if only briefly.
“You can express your opinion about people and you can be upset with people about things they’ve allegedly done, or done, but you just can’t throw a baseball at someone because of your feelings,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “I don’t care what the hitter has done or allegedly done, I would defend that person until I’m blue in the face. That person could be my worst enemy, you’re just not going to throw a baseball at him.”
This season has felt like a long baseball in the ribs for the Blue Jays.
Staked to a 4-0 lead in the second inning, Esmil Rogers couldn’t hold the big margin, surrendering a three-run blast to Robinson Cano in the third that pulled the Yankees within a run, and then gave up Rodriguez’s leadoff single in the sixth.
After Brett Cecil struck out Curtis Granderson and Neil Wagner got Mark Reynolds swinging, Jayson Nix worked a two-out walk and Stewart ended a 173-at-bat homer drought with a shot to left that put the Yankees up for good.
“We got on top 4-0 and we just couldn’t hold it,” said Gibbons. “Similar to what happened in Tampa, the bottom of their lineup beat us again. You walk Nix and Stewart puts them up by two, those are guys you hope to get out, expect to get out.”
The Blue Jays tried to rally in the seventh, but with two outs and the bases loaded, Brett Lawrie ripped a deep drive to centre that Brett Gardner caught for the third out. The Yankees scratched out runs in the seventh and eighth to put things away.
The Dempster ban, meanwhile, puts one small element of the Rodriguez circus to rest, amid the messy accusations, counter-charges and legal wrangling between him, the Yankees and Major League Baseball.
Rodriguez declined to speak with media after both games, but what became clear Tuesday is that vigilante measures such as Dempster’s won’t be tolerated.
“Part of the game is to protect your own, there’s a right way to protect your own,” said Girardi. “What is not part of the game is throwing at people because you don’t like them, or that you don’t necessarily agree with the decision made by Major League Baseball. That is not part of the game. … “It’s a weapon, and it can do a lot of damage to someone’s life. And that’s why I was so upset about it. You can express your opinion and be upset with someone, but you just can’t start throwing baseballs at people. I mean, it’s scary.”
Scary enough, apparently, to make some people actually feel for A-Rod.
Notes: Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said he plans to use Brett Cecil in more of a left-handed specialist role instead of the general usage set-up man he’s been. “He’s worked an awful lot this year and he’s best going against those left-handers, and (Neil) Wagner’s been pretty good against them righties lately,” said Gibbons, “so we’re going to start using Cecil mainly against lefties from here on out to save him a little bit.” Cecil has appeared in 55 of the team’s 125 games this season, logging 58.1 innings. … The absence of Jose Bautista will give more playing time to Anthony Gose and Kevin Pillar. “It’s an opportunity for guys to make a name in this game,” said Gibbons. “That’s how you make it in this business.” Pillar ended an 0-for-17 drought with a single up the middle in the third inning of the second game. He also walked. In the first game, he picked up his first RBI on a groundout.