The Yankees fell to the Blue Jays 3-2 this afternoon at Rogers Centre in Toronto, which means the Orioles could move into a tie for first place in the American League East with a win over the Red Sox tonight. (Editor’s note: Baltimore won 4-3)
The Yankees had plenty of chances to blow this game open, but simply failed to take advantage. They loaded the bases against Ricky Romero in the first inning, but only managed a pair of sacrifice flies. The leadoff hitter reached base in each of the next four innings, but none of them came around to score.
Romero left the game after three innings with left knee discomfort, but Shawn Hill came up big by tossing three scoreless frames in his first appearance in the majors since 2010. He also got the victory.
Andy Pettitte allowed three runs over 5 2/3 innings for his first loss since returning from a fractured ankle. The veteran southpaw was pulled with two runners on in the sixth before Adeiny Hechavarria delivered a go-ahead RBI double off Joba Chamberlain. Yan Gomes was caught napping around third base on the very same play, but the Yankees couldn’t get anything going against Brad Lincoln, Steve Delabar and Casey Janssen.
The Yankees will send Phil Hughes to the hill tomorrow while Henderson Alvarez pitches for the Jays. If the American League East ends in a tie, there will be a one-game playoff on Thursday in Baltimore.