Yankees look to rebound against Blue Jays (May 02, 2017)
NEW YORK -- The Toronto Blue Jays found a unique way to get their third consecutive victory.
After Ryan Goins opened the series against the New York Yankees with four RBIs, including the first two-run sacrifice fly in team history, the Blue Jays face Masahiro Tanaka on Tuesday night when the teams continue a three-game series.
Toronto beat the Yankees for the 11th time in 16 games when it recorded a 7-1 victory Monday. Goins, who is playing shortstop while starter Troy Tulowitzki heals from a hamstring injury, hit a two-run home run and a two-run flyout.
Given how difficult runs are for the Blue Jays to produce, Toronto will take runs and productive outs regardless of how they occur.
"I don't know if I've ever seen that before, but it was great," Toronto right-hander Marco Estrada said. "We needed it at the time, and I'm glad it happened."
Just as the Jays will take Jose Bautista homering and getting two hits. Bautista hit his second home run of the season, giving him 34 against the Yankees and 18 at Yankee Stadium.
More important for the Blue Jays is the fact that Bautista is 9-for-24 (.375) in his past seven games after seeing his average drop to an unsightly .129.
"They have played better," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of the Blue Jays. "If you look at the way they've swung the bats the last week, they've swung the bats better. It seems like they're starting to get going."
Now comes a difficult attempt to beat the Yankees for the 12th time in the last 17 meetings by facing Tanaka, whose last start was arguably his best since he came to the major leagues in 2014.
Tanaka (3-1, 4.20 ERA) still maintains a high ERA because of his season debut when he was rocked for seven runs and eight hits in 2 2/3 innings at Tampa Bay on April 2. Since then, he is 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA, and each start seems to be better than the last.
That was especially the case Thursday in a 3-0 win over the Boston Red Sox. Tanaka needed only 97 pitches to toss his fifth career complete game.
He faced two above the minimum, struck out three and didn't issue a walk. Tanaka was so effective that he allowed only one runner to reach scoring position and he retired the last 14 hitters.
Tanaka also did it while pitching against Chris Sale, who held the Yankees to one run.
"I think a lot of people thought about how well he was pitching up to this point and that Chris Sale had the upper hand," Tanaka said through an interpreter. "I wanted to go in there and try to beat the odds, I guess."
Tanaka is 6-3 with a 2.34 ERA in 10 starts against the Blue Jays. He pitched a five-hitter in Toronto on Aug. 15, 2015. Last season, he was 1-1 with a 2.60 ERA in three starts vs. Toronto.
Tanaka will be opposed by Mat Latos (0-0, 3.27 ERA), who is making his third start. Toronto went extra innings in each of his first two starts. Latos allowed four runs and six hits in five innings of an 8-7, 13-inning win over the Los Angeles Angels on April 21, and he pitched six scoreless innings in an 8-4, 11-inning loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
Latos is making his second career start against the Yankees. He took a no-decision for the Miami Marlins on June 18, 2015, when he allowed three runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.
The Tuesday outing will be only the 13th American League start for Latos, but he does have familiarity against some of the Yankees' lineup.
Second baseman Starlin Castro is 8-for-33 (.242) against Latos. Designated hitter Matt Holliday is 11-for-29 (.379) off Latos, while third baseman Chase Headley is 1-for-8 against his former San Diego Padres teammate.
