New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays – MLB Series Review
New York Yankees took on Toronto Blue Jays for a three game series at Yankee Stadium in New York, NY on Monday July 16.
Yankees, who entered series with 54-34 record, showed great composure, determination and temperament in series opener. Handling their nerves absolutely brilliantly in pressure situations, Joe Girardi and company dominated their opponents in almost all departments
of the game.
Russell Martin, in particular, had an excellent time with the bat as he homered to right in the second inning to put the Yankees 1-0 ahead. Robinson Cano’s doubled to deep right in the third doubled Yankees’ lead to 2-0.
However, the star of the show was Raul Ibanez, who hit a grand slam in the eighth inning to deny the Blue Jays any chance of coming back into the contest.
Yankees continued their excellent work in Game 2 of the series as well to secure another comfortable 6-1 win. Returning from the Disabled List, starting pitcher C.C. Sabathia put up a masterful performance to lay the foundations of a Yankees’ victory.
Allowing just four hits and no run in six effective innings, Yankees’ ace played a key role in deciding the outcome of the clash and grabbed his 10th win of the season.
Adam Jones made the most of available opportunities on the plate as he connected for a three run shot to left in the second inning to dent Toronto’s confidence levels.
Chris Stewart doubled to left and Captain Derek Jeter doubled to right in the seventh to give the Yankees complete control of the situation. Relief pitcher Rafael Soriano pitched a scoreless 0.2 inning for his 24th save of the season, giving New
York an impassable 2-0 series lead.
"We've pitched well. We've swung the bats well the last couple of weeks. I mean really, really well," Manager Joe Girardi said in a post game interview. "I've been really pleased with how -- it's kind of been shared. It hasn't been one or two guys doing
all the work. You've gotten contributions from so many different people in this lineup. ... It makes it difficult to get through this lineup, and I think it wears on pitchers.”
Results got even better in the finale as the Yankees shut-out the Blue Jays to complete an emphatic series sweep. Starter Hiroki Kuroda pitched with great control and accuracy to make quick work of Blue Jays’ struggling offensive lineup. Overall, he gave
up just four hits with five strike-outs for his ninth win of the year.
"Well, it was a costly series," Blue Jays’ manager John Farrell said.
Nick Swisher, David Wiser, Robinson Cano and Adam Jones drove in crucial runs while Mark Teixeira hit the only home-run of the game.
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