Yankees Claw Back into First Place Tie

The Yankees finally showed you that they had a pulse in this game. After being down 5-1 in the middle portion of the game, the Yankees came back and scored eight times to be able to leave Toronto and their final road game of the regular season with a victory. In the beginning portion of the game, the Yankees looked old, tired and lifeless. However, something clicked in the Yankees' minds. It may have had something to do with Baltimore beating the Orioles that put a jolt of energy into the Yankees. It may have been the fact that they knew they would be out of first place with a loss. Any way you stack it up the Yankees responded to all the adversity, from myself included. The offense showed you something in this game that gave you hope heading into the last three games of the Yankees season against the Red Sox. Lost in the shuffle was Curtis Granderson finally reaching the 100 RBI plateau in the Yankees eighth inning rally when he singled home two runs that capped the Yankees scoring for the day.

Phil Hughes was awful today in a start the Yankees needed him to excel in. He failed to get out of the fifth inning and left the game with a four run deficit after giving up five runs to the Blue Jays. He gave up hit after hit and Toronto was taking advantage of his inability to locate his spots. A defensive play in this game worth mentioning was Ichiro robbing Encarnacion of a double to lead off the third inning when he extended his arm after running fast down the line. If Encarnacion reached, there is a good chance the Blue Jays would have done even more against the Yankees pitching and the Yankees would be sitting in second place right now.

Tomorrow night, the Yankees start their final series of the season against the Red Sox who are coming off of a sweep at the hands of the Orioles. Look for the Red Sox to play the Yankees well after being dead in the Baltimore series. CC Sabathia will match up against Clay Buchholtz. The Yankees need to sweep the series if they want to maintain their first place position. If the Orioles lose one game against the Rays and the Yankees sweep, they win the East and the Orioles play a one-game playoff against the second wildcard team. If the Yankees lose one, a similar situation occurs and the Yankees season hangs on one game.