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New York Yankees try to keep their offense rolling along as they close out a three-game set with the
Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre this afternoon.
Despite hitting a collective .230 over the last six games, the Yankees seemed to put all the pieces together quickly on Saturday, as they scored nine runs in the first four innings and went on to defeat the Blue Jays by a score of 9-4 to snap a brief two-game slide.
Derek Jeter led things off with a solo home run in the top of the first inning, his fifth long ball of the season and the first time he's started a game with a home run in 2008. The early tally also marked the 200th home run of his career.
Jeter finished the afternoon 2-for-5 with three RBI, as did Alex Rodriguez, who crushed a significant homer of his own in the fourth inning.
The home run for Rodriguez was the 537th of his career, pushing him past Yankee great Mickey Mantle for sole possession of 13th place on the all-time career list. Sitting in 12th place on the list is Mike Schmidt, who belted 548 home runs during his career with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Rodriguez is second on the active list of home run hitters, trailing only former Seattle teammate Ken Griffey Jr. who has connected on 605 long balls and is sixth on the all-time list at the moment.
Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner both scored twice for the Yankees as they moved to 5 1/2 games of first place in the AL East. Young hurler Darrell Rasner posted his fifth win of the season for New York, as he gave up three earned runs on seven hits while striking out six over five innings of work.
As for the Blue Jays, who are now 9 1/2 games off the pace in the division and had their four-game win streak snapped, they were paced by Adam Lind's three RBI. Marco Scutaro and Joe Inglett both tallied a pair of hits and scored a run in the setback.
Toronto starter Jesse Litsch never made it out of the third inning, surrendering eight runs -- although just three were earned -- on seven hits in just 2 2/3 frames of work.
Getting his first look of the season at the Blue Jays, Andy Pettitte is set to take the mound for New York this afternoon.
The 14-year veteran collected his 10th win of the season on Tuesday, when he and the Yankees lodged a 5-0 victory versus Tampa Bay in the Bronx. The lefty gave up a mere four hits over eight innings and didn't issue a single walk, while striking out five in the win.
Since starting out 5-5 on the season, Pettitte appears to have turned the corner with five wins in six decisions and now has his earned run average back down under four.
With trade rumors still swirling about, there's no telling how many more starts A.J. Burnett may have left with his current Blue Jays club. Nevertheless, he's on tap to close out the first half of the campaign today against the Yankees.
The right-hander, who is 1-0 this season and 4-2 in his career versus New York, is pitching on just three days rest for Toronto, due to the fact that Dustin McGowan is suffering from a sore shoulder.
Burnett has won three of his last four starts for Toronto, including what became a 9-8 victory against Baltimore on Wednesday. In that contest Burnett permitted a hefty seven runs on seven hits and three walks, while striking out seven in just 5 1/3 innings of work.
Jeter, who along with Rodriguez will be taking part in the final All-Star game at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night, is hitting .360 with six RBI and four runs scored in the last week. Rodriguez has accounted for four RBI on his six hits in 25 at-bats during that stretch.
Fellow third baseman Scott Rolen has hit a bit of a slump in recent days with the Jays, batting a mere .143 with just a single RBI in 21 at-bats. Lind has tried to pick up the slack with eight hits in 22 plate appearances, accounting for four doubles and a triple along the way.
New York holds a 5-3 edge in this year's season series with Toronto.
