Jays win series over Yankees after 5-1 victory

5. 39. Final. 1. 43

The Blue Jays stepped up in the final game of a three game set against the New York Yankees, taking the final game 5-1. In a battle of aging left-handers, Mark Buehrle beat C.C. Sabathia, bouncing back after two rough starts.

Buehrle delivered five solid innings, got the win, and it’s great to see the Jays veteran starting pitchers starting to come through for the team and lead the staff. Roberto Osuna, Aaron Loup, and Brett Cecil did a great job out of the bullpen to finish off a great evening for the Jays staff.

The top half of the offence struggles against the veteran Sabathia, but it was more than made up for by the rest of the lineup. Russell Martin and Chris Colabello led the way. Martin is ridiculous at the moment, delivering another home run and garnering three base hits. Colabello added to his strong start as a Blue Jay, delivering a four hit night, including a double, two runs and an RBI.

Kevin Pillar, Ezequiel Carrera, and Ryan Goins chipped in as well with four base hits and three RBI.

A fundamentally sound baseball game by the entire team. Pitchers kept the ball down, mixed speeds and limited walks. The offence came up with some timely hits and did a good job of getting on base, and the defence was strong.

Game Notes

  • Colabello has looked great since getting the call from Buffalo. The aforementioned 4/4 is a terrific night, and they weren’t cheap hits either. He’s finding barrel, driving the ball, and using the entire field. Can’t ask for anything more from a fill-in.
  • Buehrle’s changeup looked good early on, getting left-handed hitters Jacoby Ellsbury, and Stephen Drew to swing over the pitch for strikeouts.
  • Martin is completely locked in at the plate. After being down in the count early in the second inning in his second at bat, he worked it back to 3-2, and then drilled a fastball on the outside part of the plate back up the middle off Sabathia’s backside. In his next at bat he added his 7th HR of the year on a shot to left field, and chipped in a line drive to right for his third hit of the game.
  • Buehrle got into some trouble in the fifth inning, but got out of with a big strikeout of Chris Young, and getting Teixeira to ground out with the bases loaded.
  • A little bit of an early hook for Buehrle in this one. Osuna replaced the veteran in the 6th inning after 77 pitches, 49 of which were for strikes. However, after struggling in his last two starts and loading the bases in the previous inning, it’s not a huge surprise to see Gibbons go to the bullpen early with the off day tomorrow.
  • Travis looks a little out of sync. Not a surprise at all, as he obviously wasn’t going to keep up his torrid April pace, and pitchers seem to be pitching to his weaknesses instead of challenging him like they were for the first portion of the season. He’s 4 for his last 28, including a grand slam, but it will be interesting to see if he can turn it back around and regain his form and timing at the plate.

B+. After back-to-back starts which saw Buehrle really struggle against Tampa Bay and Cleveland, Buerhle bounced back tonight with a  solid effort. A single and a double in the first inning led to the games first run, but Buerhle shut it down after that. He did a much better job hitting spots and mixing speeds against the Yankees lineup. Only five IP from Buehrle, but he only allowed one run, gave up 6 hits and walked one batter in his fourth win of the year.. . <b>Mark Buehrle</b>. STARTING PITCHING

B+. The top of the order struggled this evening, going a measly 1/14 with a single and two walks, but the rest of the lineup picked up the slack. They delivered a total of 12 hits, including 3 extra-base hits and put up 5 runs. Martin is absolutely rolling at the moment. He did a terrific job of working the count, getting himself good pitches to hit and not missing them when they were in the zone. He used all three zones of the field on his three hits, including another home run. He has 4 HR in last 4 starts behind the plate. He was joined by Chris Colabello, who went 4/4 with a double, 2 R, and an RBI. He’s filled in nicely at the dish, putting up multi-hit games in both starts since he’s been recalled, and quite frankly, he looked great tonight at the plate. Pillar added another multi-hit game, and Ezequiel Carrera added a two run single to score the Jays first two runs. Even Ryan Goins joined the party, delivering an RBI triple for some insurance in the 8th inning. A terrific piece of hitting from Goins, sitting back on a breaking ball from left-hander <strong><a href=. . Game Ball, <strong>Russell Martin</strong>. OFFENCE

RELIEF PITCHING . A. After the early hook on Buehrle, the bullpen shut it down the rest of the way. Osuna came in and only allowed 2 base runners in 2.1 IP; he didn’t strike out a batter, but he didn’t give up much hard contact, and kept the ball on the ground, which led to a couple double plays. Loup replaced Osuna and got a big strikeout of <strong><a href=. . <b>Roberto Osuna, Aaron Loup, Brett Cecil</b>

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