Toronto — The Toronto Blue Jays have had their share of injuries, but so have the New York Yankees who have won all four meetings between the teams this season after their 7-4 victory last night.
The Yankees are without two top starters in Mike Mussina and Kevin Brown. Also, first baseman Jason Giambi is battling an illness. And yet the Yankees have a good lead in the American League East and the best record in the AL.
Of course, money helps and the Yankees have it. They can afford to buy experienced players, and this experience, manager Joe Torre said, is key to overcoming the current problems.
"I think a lot of it is the fact that we have veterans on this club," Torre said after the Yankees rallied from a 2-1 disadvantage with four runs in the eighth inning before 30,087 fans at a closed SkyDome.
"Veterans don't get caught up in what ifs. They go out there and play and at the end of the day they look up and see where they are," Torre said.
"I think if you have a less experienced ball club you tend to say 'oh my gosh.' I really do think it's because we have guys who have been around the block."
Last night, they also lost their starting pitcher, Orlando Hernandez, after two runless innings because of tightness in his left hamstring. But five relievers kept them in the game.
And a key was the ability to prevent the Blue Jays from adding on runs after Eric Hinske's sixth-inning homer against former Toronto left-hander Felix Heredia had given Toronto a 2-1 lead.
Alexis Rios was thrown out at home on Orlando Hudson's double before Bret Prinz took over to end the inning.
Scott Proctor set himself up for his first major-league victory by retiring Hinske to end the seventh with the bases loaded.
"The middle of the bullpen has not been very good for them, that's one of the reasons the guys at the end have so many appearances," Blue Jays manager Carlos Tosca said. "It's tough when you don't get those add-on runs."
So the Blue Jays took a 2-1 advantage into the eighth instead of a larger lead. And a one-run lead is dangerous with certain members of the Blue Jays bullpen.
With closer Jason Frasor unavailable, setup man Vinnie Chulk was being held for the ninth.
That left Kerry Ligtenberg to come in for the eighth and he loaded the bases on singles by Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter and a walk to Gary Sheffield.
Justin Speier replaced Ligtenberg to face Alex Rodriguez who had homered in the third and tied the game this time with a sacrifice fly to right.
Then Jorge Posada homered to right to put the Yankees into a 5-2 lead. Posada hit a grand slam in the first inning of Monday's 6-5 Yankees victory that went 10 innings.
Early in the season the buzz was that Tosca's future with the team would be based on how he handled the bullpen. As it turns out that has become more of a cruel joke because of the ineptitude of the relievers he was asked to use, excluding rookies such as Chulk and Frasor.
Williams and Sheffield homered in the ninth against Mike Nakamura and they proved to be important runs when Hinske hit a two-run triple in the bottom of the inning against Tom Gordon, who took over with one out in the eighth to earn his third save.
Left-hander Ted Lilly, a former Yankee, allowed one run on two hits and three walks in six innings but used far too many pitches in the early innings and was lifted after 109 pitches (72 strikes).
"I was a little more emotional tonight than I normally am," Lilly said. "Honestly, I want to beat that team a little more than any other team."
After Rodriguez put the Yankees ahead in the top of the third, Vernon Wells tied the score in the bottom of the inning with a homer against Juan Padilla. Just before that, Frank Catalanotto hit into a double play.
Lilly and Hernandez matched up at Yankee Stadium last Thursday and neither gave up a run nor figured in the decision in a 1-0 Yankee victory that was decided by Ruben Sierra's two-out homer in the bottom of the ninth against Chulk. Lilly went 62/3 innings and Hernandez seven that time.
