Bird homers in tenth to lift Yankees past Blue Jays

He has not pitched since September 12 in the second game of the doubleheader won by the Blue Jays 10-7 at Yankee Stadium.

Instead, Masahiro Tanaka will watch from the dugout as Ivan Nova tries to get the Yankees within 1 1/2 games of the AL East-leading Blue Jays Wednesday night in Toronto. What a huge and fun and hugely fun win.

No, let’s see another strong start or two.

. The Yankees and Blue Jays were tied 2-2 after the first seven innings, so this was a battle of the bullpens. The problem is, that scenario won’t always wait for the 8th inning.

Moore (2-4) allowed two hits and walked two in the first inning as Boston took a 2-0 lead.

Fans outside Rogers Centre were confident in the team’s chances at winning their division. That sweet swing and a drive to right-center. Harang pitched seven innings, allowing two runs and seven hits.

Down 4-1, the Mets loaded the bases with one out in the eighth. I thought it was a fair decision, but Gregorius lined a single to right, and Ackley went to third.

Pillar halved the deficit with a one-out homer into the second deck in left in the third, his 11th.

The Yankees put two more runners in scoring position before Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada escaped by striking out Chase Headley. Greinke is in a remarkable race for the NL Cy Young Award with teammate Clayton Kershaw and Cubs ace Jake Arrieta, who improved to 20-6 with a 1.88 ERA by shutting out Milwaukee on Tuesday night.

Unfortunately, that one-run lead didn’t stand up.

Because while they may be limping along, they’re still the bleeping Yankees, as many a Jays employee will tell you. Not Girardi’s finest moment. Encarnacion was intentionally walked. “M-V-P!”, Miller overpowered Donaldson with fastballs for the swinging strikeout.

Osuna is still the closer but, for the time being anyway, the job of the eighth-inning setup man will no longer be the sole domain of Sanchez. Seven reached base. Yikes. They be going, yeah!

The Yankees wasted no time in this one getting on the board as they struck for two runs in the first inning. It just wasn’t handled. “That’s a little bit unusual for guys just starting out”. It was Carlos Beltran, who can hit from both sides, who cranked a homer that the Jays would get back with a destiny-delaying solo shot from Dioner Navarro in the ninth. The batter, Slade Heathcott, fouled off the pitch, but his bat nicked Navarro’s glove.

Logan Forsythe led off the fifth with a double for Tampa Bay’s first hit and he scored on a sacrifice fly.

Can you say with confidence that Severino and Bird have looked like seasoned veterans during their month-plus in the majors? Yes. He’s been incredible. Even so, his pitch count was already up to 55 after three. He sent Miller back out for a second inning.

In the Yankees defense, they were not favored to win on Monday. He allowed three runs and five hits, walked one and struck out five.

These Blue Jays, as professional mercenaries go, are as close as Canada has had to a beloved rallying point since, probably, the 1994 Montreal Expos, who were well on their way to capturing the nation’s collective heart and soul, with the best record in baseball by a mile – 74-40, despite having played 10 more games on the road than at home – when the season was cancelled by the baseball strike on August 11. Donaldson scored on Edwin Encarnacion’s RBI groundout and Justin Smoak capped the rally with an RBI double. It was Bautista’s second outfield assist of the game – he also threw out Dustin Ackley at third base in the seventh. Very nice outing for Severino against a tough lineup that has given him problems.