TORONTO — If this is the prelude to the post-season, the real thing would be something to behold.
The Toronto Blue Jays may be disappointed by the result — a 6-4 loss to the New York Yankees in front of 47,992 at Rogers Centre — but the game added a few memorable moments to a season already full of them.
First there was the Carlos Beltran home run that gave the Yankees the lead. Then there was the Dioner Navarro homer to tie it all up. And finally there was the Greg Bird three-run shot that put the game away for New York.
“It was pretty emotional, a great battle by both teams and unfortunately we came up short,” Navarro said.
Along the way Marco Estrada continued to produce and the Blue Jays bullpen proved vulnerable on nights that Brett Cecil isn’t available. Just the latest instalment in a Blue Jays-Yankees season series full of drama.
Download it now: iOS | Android | Windows
“It was pretty exciting,” Navarro said of his home run against Andrew Miller. “I’m a pretty emotional guy and in that situation, facing one of the best pitchers in the league right now, it meant a lot. It says a lot about our character and how we play — we play with a lot of emotion.”
Both bullpens had trouble, as Liam Hendriks, Mark Lowe and the typically dominant Miller surrendered home runs. But Miller ultimately escaped from trouble, allowing the Yankees to reduce the Blue Jays’ AL East lead to 2.5 games while keeping Toronto’s magic number at 10.
Before the late-inning drama, the Blue Jays did get some good pitching from their starter. And the longer Estrada keeps getting results, the harder it’s going to be for the Blue Jays to deny him a spot in their post-season rotation, should they reach the ALDS. There’s no need to decide on specifics just yet, of course, but the right-hander has done nothing but impress as a starter despite being left out of Toronto’s opening day rotation.
He came through with another strong outing Tuesday, pitching 6.2 innings of two-run ball despite a slow start. Estrada shut the Yankees down after a first-inning rally, retiring 11 in a row at one point before handing the ball over to the bullpen.
“It did get a little better, but I still missed a lot of spots today,” Estrada said. “I could have pitched a little better. But we battled. We battled today, and unfortunately we couldn’t pull it off, but it was a good game.”
That’s been the norm for Estrada, whose 3.13 ERA ranks sixth among American League starters. His formula for success — change-ups, fly balls and weakly-hit grounders — may be unconventional, but it’s working.
In five starts against the Yankees this year, Estrada has a 3.77 ERA. Considering that the Blue Jays clearly prefer to avoid using Mark Buehrle against New York, Estrada would seemingly have the inside edge for a rotation spot should the Blue Jays face the Yankees in the post-season, not that he was entirely satisfied Tuesday.
“I wish I would’ve located a bit better,” he said. “But even with the stuff I had today, I got into the seventh inning and kept the team in it. You just try to mix and match, try not to have the same patterns over and over, especially a team you face so many times.”
The Blue Jays bullpen wasn’t as effective. Bird hit the decisive homer on a pitch Lowe said he executed well, and Beltran continued tormenting Blue Jays pitchers with a homer against Hendriks. The switch-hitting right fielder had previously gone deep against Aaron Sanchez and Estrada in August, with the Yankees winning both games.
“He’s known for that. He’s been doing that his whole career. He clutched up. That’s definitely not surprising,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “Bird’s hit some big home runs, too.”
The Blue Jays did have success against Alex Rodriguez, striking him out with the bases loaded for the second consecutive night. Later in the game, the Blue Jays had a bases-loaded opportunity of their own when Edwin Encarnacion stepped in against Dellin Betances in the eighth inning. Encarnacion struck out, but would go on to homer in the 10th.
Kevin Pillar contributed in all facets of the game with a solo home run in the third inning, a walk, a single and a stolen base. He made multiple stellar catches in the gap, and wasn’t the only outfielder to make an impact on defence.
Jose Bautista recorded outfield assists on two impressive throws from right field, suggesting that his throwing arm has recovered from early season shoulder injury.
“Jose’s not just an offensive player, he’s a very good outfielder,” Gibbons said. “He feels good and that was a clear indication there.”
The assists, Bautista’s first since July 8 against the Chicago White Sox, came at key moments, particularly the ninth-inning throw that kept the Blue Jays within one.
“Unbelievable. It was a great throw, it was right on the money,” Navarro said of Bautista’s throw to the plate. “All I had to do was put the tag on him.”
Ivan Nova starts in place of Masahiro Tanaka Wednesday, when the Blue Jays and Yankees close out a hard-fought season series. With Marcus Stroman set to make his third start of the season, the Blue Jays will take their shot at one last win against New York.