Sabathia get roughed up early, Yankees fall to Blue Jays 4-2

After a much-needed day off, the Yankees were back in action Monday night facing the Toronto Blue Jays. For the Bombers, C.C. Sabathia (9-4, 3.81 ERA) got the nod looking to keep the Yankees close in the battle for the American League East. For the Blue Jays, J.A. Happ (4-8, 3.92 ERA) took the hill coming off a solid start against the White Sox.

Fred Thornhill/ The Canadian Press via AP

Trailing the Red Sox by three games in the East, the Bombers need to keep pace and win every game possible. Tonight however, the Yankees fell behind early. In the bottom of the first inning, Josh Donaldson hit a homer on a fly ball to center field that gave the Jays a 2-0 lead after one inning. Getting the start at first, Garrett Cooper singled on a line drive to right field during the top of the second that brought the Yankees within one run, as they trailed 2-1 after two innings of play.

On most any night, Sabathia shows his grit for the Yankees and gives them a quality start. Tonight, the big lefty did not have his best stuff. After just three innings Sabathia was done and it was by the hands of Donaldson. During the bottom of the third inning, Donaldson hit his second homer of the game. With a long fly ball to left field, the Blue Jays led 4-1 after just three innings.

Bryan Mitchell (1-1, 4.29 ERA) would come in to work some early relief for the Bombers. Mitchell was solid as he pitched four scoreless innings keeping the Yankees in the game. At any rate, the runs are just not coming when needed. During the top of the sixth inning, the Yankees looked poised to strike but once again could not get the big hit they needed. After another Aaron Judge strikeout, Gary Sanchez worked a walk, Chase Headley followed with a walk of his own, bringing Didi Gregorius to the plate. Gregorius flew out to left field, and in a hustle play, Todd Frazier was able to reach base on an infield single. Girardi made the choice to leave Cooper in the game with the bases loaded and Cooper hit a fly out to end the inning.

Fred Thornhill/ The Canadian Press via AP

After knocking out Happ during the sixth inning, the Yankee bats still struggled to get any sort of offense going. Ronald Torreyes led off the seventh with a single, but a double play ball by Gardner, and another strikeout by Judge ended the inning as the Bombers still trailed 4-1.

The top of the eighth inning brought more hope for the Yankees. Sanchez and Headley both got plunked to put runners on first and second with zero outs. Gregorius would pop out to third base, but Todd Frazier worked a walk to load the bases with only one out. Once again, Cooper came up to bat with the bases loaded. After a tough at bat, Cooper hit a sacrifice fly to left field which brought the score to 4-2. Torreyes would hit a fly ball to center field to end the inning, as the Bombers fell short again with runners in scoring position.

During the ninth inning, the Yankees went down in order and fell to the Blue Jays 4-2.

Fred Thornhill/ The Canadian Press via AP

Tomorrow night the Yankees play game two of a three game set at the Rogers Centre 7:07 PM ET. Masahiro Tanaka (8-10, 4.93 ERA) will take the mound for the Bombers as they look to get a much-needed road win. For Toronto, Cesar Valdez (1-1, 7.63 ERA) is scheduled to make the start.

Winning Pitcher: J.A. Happ (5-8, 3.77 ERA) 5.2 IP, 4 H, R, ER, 4 BB, 5 SO

Losing Pitcher: C.C. Sabathia (9-5, 4.05 ERA) 3.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4, ER, BB, 3 SO
Save: Osuna (29)

Notables:

Garrett Cooper: 2-3, 2 RBI (3)

Ronald Torreyes: 1-4

Didi Gregorius: 1-4

Aaron Judge: 0-3, 2 BB, 2 K

Clint Frazier: 1-4, 3 K

Article by: Randy Hancock

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