Yankees 4 – Blue Jays 0
The Yankees came home this weekend limping from a 3-4 road trip, figuratively and literally.
Tino Martinez and Jorge Posada suffered injuries on the trip to Texas and Anaheim. Mike Mussina refused to speak with the media after an 8-1 loss last Wednesday. Relievers Mike Stanton and Mariano Rivera were beat up a bit as well.
So while the verses of “Enter Sandman” don’t exactly remind anyone of “Sweet Home Alabama” or “America,” Rivera’s theme song provided a certain comfort of home last night. The Yankees’ closer needed just four pitches to nail down a 4-0 victory over Toronto after Mussina’s solid outing.
Mussina (13-11), touchy to the subject of run support, still didn’t want to talk 24 hours after the Bombers failed to give him some offensive cushion in Texas. But the right-hander put his last start behind him while Martinez and Posada laid to rest concerns about injuries.
The expensive free agent pickup was masterful in setting down Toronto, which had a four-game winning streak. He hurled eight shutout innings, dominating the Blue Jays with only one or two jaunts on the wild side.
Toronto had two good chances to score off Mussina. In the fourth, Shannon Stewart worked a one-out walk and advanced to third after Carlos Delgado roped a double that one-hopped the left-field fence. But Shane Spencer made a throw to third that caught Stewart a couple of steps off the bag for the second out.
Home plate ump Mark Wegner hustled to third to make the call, as third base ump Dave Phillips was in the outfield making sure there was no fan interference on the play.
In the sixth, a one-out double to Vernon Wells and a two-out walk to Stewart had Mussina in trouble again. After getting ahead 3-1, Delgado hit a liner to right, but Paul O’Neill made a run-saving, sliding catch to end the inning.
A seventh-inning rally by Toronto was also cut short due to poor baserunning. After smacking a one-out double, Brad Fullmer foolishly tried to advance to third on Felipe Lopez’s grounder to short. He was cut down, and the Blue Jays would strand two runners in that frame. Toronto also had two runners caught stealing in the game.
Martinez and Posada proved they were sharp despite nagging ailments. The Yankee first baseman missed four games with a strained left groin, DHed on Saturday and pinch-hit on Sunday. This was his first game at first base since he injured the groin in Texas.
After the Yankees scraped together a 2-0 lead with runs in the first and third innings, Martinez helped chase Toronto starter Esteban Loaiza in the sixth. He smacked his 29th homer of the season leading off the inning, roping a line shot into the first few rows of the right-field seats.
After David Justice followed with a single, Posada singled to left-center and eventually advanced to third on the play. Center fielder Wells threw errantly into third, and Justice came around to score. Posada looked to have no effects of a swollen left big toe as he sprinted to third.
“Once I get loose and the game goes along, I’m gonna see how it feels running. But I’m not fast anyway,” Posada said before the game.
The Yankee catcher also looked comfortable behind the plate, and throwing was obviously not a problem.