GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: NY YANKEES (21-29) at TORONTO (24-27)

AL: NY YANKEES at TORONTO

<div class="pre">NY YANKEES (10) VS TORONTO (5) - FINAL

NY YANKEES ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Damon cf 5 1 2 1 0 1 1 .264
B Abreu rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .228
D Jeter ss 4 0 0 0 1 3 2 .343
H Matsui lf 5 2 2 0 0 1 1 .282
A Rodriguez 3b 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 .292
J Posada c 4 2 1 1 1 2 2 .357
J Giambi dh 4 0 1 3 0 1 1 .262
M Cairo pr-dh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .125
J Phelps 1b 3 1 1 2 0 1 0 .281
D Mientkiewicz 1b 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .217
R Cano 2b 4 1 4 1 0 0 0 .264
M Cabrera rf-cf 4 1 2 1 0 0 2 .224

Totals 39 10 14 10 3 10 11

BATTING: 2B - R Cano 3 (15, J Towers, B Tallet, J Litsch). HR - J Damon (3, 1st
inning off J Litsch 0 on, 0 Out). SF - J Giambi. RBI - J Damon (17), J Giambi 3
(23), J Phelps 2 (9), R Cano (23), M Cabrera (15), A Rodriguez (45), J Posada
(30). 2-out RBI - J Phelps 2, R Cano, A Rodriguez, J Posada, J Giambi 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - D Jeter 1, J Posada 2, M Cabrera 2.
Team LOB - 6.

BASERUNNING: SB - J Posada (1, 2nd base off J Litsch/S Fasano), A Rodriguez
(6, 2nd base off B Tallet/S Fasano), M Cabrera (3, 2nd base off J Towers/S
Fasano). CS - R Cano (4, 2nd base by J Frasor/S Fasano).

FIELDING: PB - J Posada.


TORONTO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Rios rf 5 1 2 2 0 0 1 .304
L Overbay 1b 5 0 0 0 0 1 2 .258
V Wells cf 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 .262
M Stairs lf 5 1 2 2 0 1 0 .310
F Thomas dh 3 0 0 0 2 1 0 .221
A Hill 2b 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 .284
H Clark 3b 3 0 1 0 1 0 3 .333
S Fasano c 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 .133
a-A Lind ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .221
J Phillips c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .237
J McDonald ss 3 2 2 1 1 0 1 .279

Totals 36 5 9 5 5 5 11

a-flied out to center for S Fasano in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - J McDonald (7, B Bruney). HR - A Rios (12, 3rd inning off T
Clippard 1 on, 0 Out), J Mcdonald (1, 4th inning off T Clippard 0 on, 1 Out), M
Stairs (7, 7th inning off B Bruney 1 on, 1 Out). RBI - A Rios 2 (29), J
McDonald (4), M Stairs 2 (17). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - L
Overbay 1, H Clark 2, S Fasano 1, A Rios 1, A Hill 1. Team LOB - 9.


----------------------------------------------------
NY YANKEES - 500 001 004 -- 10
TORONTO - 002 100 200 -- 5
----------------------------------------------------

NY YANKEES ip h r er bb so hr era
T Clippard (W, 2-1) 5 4 3 3 5 3 2 4.20
B Bruney (H, 3) 1 1/3 3 2 2 0 1 1 2.22
S Proctor (H, 8) 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.46
K Farnsworth (H, 6) 2/3 2 0 0 0 0 0 4.71
M Rivera (S, 4) 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.50

TORONTO ip h r er bb so hr era
J Litsch (L, 1-2) 2/3 4 5 5 2 1 1 6.62
B Tallet 2 1/3 3 0 0 0 2 0 2.33
J Towers 2 2/3 2 1 1 0 3 0 5.45
J Frasor 2 1/3 1 0 0 0 4 0 4.43
S Downs 2/3 2 3 3 1 0 0 4.12
B Wolfe 1/3 2 1 1 0 0 0 27.00

IBB - D Jeter (by S Downs). Pitches-strikes: T Clippard 98-51; B Bruney
27-19; S Proctor 11-7; K Farnsworth 11-7; M Rivera 13-10; J Litsch 36-18; B
Tallet 42-28; J Towers 46-32; J Frasor 37-23; S Downs 14-8; B Wolfe 15-8.
Ground balls-fly balls: T Clippard 2-10; B Bruney 0-3; S Proctor 0-1; K
Farnsworth 0-2; M Rivera 3-1; J Litsch 0-1; B Tallet 3-2; J Towers 3-2; J
Frasor 2-0; S Downs 2-0; B Wolfe 0-1. Batters faced: T Clippard 24; B Bruney 7;
S Proctor 2; K Farnsworth 4; M Rivera 4; J Litsch 8; B Tallet 10; J Towers 10;
J Frasor 7; S Downs 5; B Wolfe 3.

UMPIRES: HP--Eric Cooper. 1B--Mike Reilly. 2B--Jeff Kellogg. 3B--Chad
Fairchild.

T--3:32. Att--29,187.
Weather: 82 degrees, clear. Wind: 9 mph, out to
center.</div>

 

AL: NY YANKEES at TORONTO

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
NY YANKEES 10
TORONTO 5 FINAL</div>

 

Damon makes history, helps Yankees snap skid

<h3>NY YANKEES 10, TORONTO 5</h3>TORONTO (Ticker) -- The 1,999th hit of Johnny Damon's careersnapped the New York Yankees out of their offensive funk.

Damon led off the game with a homer and Josh Phelps drove in apair of runs as the Yankees earned a 10-5 victory over theToronto Blue Jays.

Damon, who has been battling leg cramps all season, singled inthe second inning to push his career hit total to 2,000.

New York piled five runs on Blue Jays rookie Jesse Litsch in thefirst, chasing the rookie hurler after just two-thirds of aninning. The 22-year-old righthander was charged with all fivefirst-inning runs after yielding four hits and issuing twowalks.

The Yankees, who had lost five straight games after a 3-2setback on Tuesday, avoided being swept in consecutive seriessince 2000, when they dropped sets to Tampa Bay and Baltimorefrom September 26-October 1.

After Damon's leadoff blast, Litsch struck out Derek Jeterbefore allowing a single to Hideki Matsui and issuing a walk toAlex Rodriguez. After Jorge Posada walked, Jason Giambi drovein New York's second run with a sacrifice fly to right-centerfield.

Posada then stole second base, setting up Phelps with runners onsecond and third. The backup first baseman delivered, singlingup the middle to bring home Rodriguez and Posada. RobinsonCano followed with a double, plating Phelps and chasing Litschfrom the game.

Cano, who had been mired in a 2-for-16 slump, went 4-for-4 witha run scored and an RBI.

Rookie Tyler Clippard (2-1) started for New York and battledToronto for five innings, holding the powerful lineup to threeruns and four hits. The 22-year-old righthander issued fivewalks and struck out three to earn his second major-league win.

The Blue Jays battled back to make the score 6-5, when BrianBruney surrendered a two-run blast to veteran utilityman MattStairs in the seventh, but Scott Proctor and Kyle Farnsworthcombined to throw a scoreless inning of relief.

All-Star closer Mariano Rivera picked up a four-out save toclinch the win.

Rivera, pitching in his first save situation since May 3, camein with a pair of runners on and two outs in the eighth andescaped the jam.

The Yankees added four runs in the ninth, the last two after acontroversial play in which Rodriguez - running between thethird baseman and the shortstop on an infield pop-up - appearedto call for the ball, causing the fielders to back off as theball dropped to the turf.

Rodriguez and Blue Jays shortstop John McDonald shouted back andforth for a few moments before being separated by the umpires.

 

AL: NY YANKEES at TORONTO

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NY YANKEES (10) AT TORONTO (5) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NY YANKEES 1ST: J Damon homered to right. D Jeter struck out looking.
H Matsui singled to center. A Rodriguez walked, H Matsui to second. J Posada
walked, H Matsui to third, A Rodriguez to second. J Giambi hit sacrifice fly
to right, H Matsui scored, A Rodriguez to third. J Posada stole second.
J Phelps singled to center, A Rodriguez and J Posada scored. R Cano doubled to
left, J Phelps scored, R Cano to third advancing on throw. B Tallet relieved
J Litsch. M Cabrera grounded out to first. (5 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 5,
TORONTO 0.

TORONTO 3RD: J McDonald walked. A Rios homered to left, J McDonald scored.
L Overbay struck out swinging. V Wells fouled out to catcher. M Stairs
singled to center. F Thomas walked, M Stairs to second. A Hill reached on
infield single to third, M Stairs to third, F Thomas to second. H Clark flied
out to center. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 5, TORONTO 2.

TORONTO 4TH: S Fasano struck out looking. J McDonald homered to left.
A Rios popped out to third. L Overbay flied out to center. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) NY YANKEES 5, TORONTO 3.

NY YANKEES 6TH: J Phelps struck out swinging. R Cano doubled to deep
center. M Cabrera singled to center, R Cano scored. M Cabrera stole second.
J Damon flied out to left. J Frasor relieved J Towers. D Jeter grounded out to
third. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 6, TORONTO 3.

TORONTO 7TH: D Mientkiewicz at first base. L Overbay flied out to center.
V Wells singled to center. M Stairs homered to right, V Wells scored.
S Proctor relieved B Bruney. F Thomas struck out swinging. A Hill lined out to
left. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 6, TORONTO 5.

NY YANKEES 9TH: J Phillips catching. S Downs relieved J Frasor. M Cabrera
singled to center. J Damon grounded out to pitcher, M Cabrera to second.
D Jeter intentionally walked. H Matsui grounded into fielder's choice to second,
D Jeter out at second, M Cabrera to third. A Rodriguez singled to center,
M Cabrera scored, H Matsui to second. B Wolfe relieved S Downs. J Posada reached
on infield single to third, H Matsui scored, A Rodriguez to third. J Posada to
second on fielder's indifference. J Giambi singled to center, A Rodriguez and
J Posada scored. M Cairo ran for J Giambi. D Mientkiewicz popped out to
shortstop. (4 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 10, TORONTO 5.</div>

 

AL: NY YANKEES at TORONTO

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NY YANKEES (10) AT TORONTO (5) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ny Yankees Starting Lineups -- J Damon CF, D Jeter SS, H Matsui LF, A Rodriguez 3B,
J Posada C, J Giambi DH, J Phelps 1B, R Cano 2B, M Cabrera RF, T Clippard RHP.

Toronto Starting Lineups -- A Rios RF, L Overbay 1B, V Wells CF, M Stairs LF,
F Thomas DH, A Hill 2B, H Clark 3B, S Fasano C, J McDonald SS, J Litsch RHP.

Umpires -- Eric Cooper (HP), Mike Reilly (1B), Jeff Kellogg (2B),
Chad Fairchild (3B).

Gametime Weather: 82 degrees, Clear, wind out to center at 9 mph.


NY YANKEES 1ST: J Damon homered to right. D Jeter struck out looking.
H Matsui singled to center. A Rodriguez walked, H Matsui to second. J Posada
walked, H Matsui to third, A Rodriguez to second. J Giambi hit sacrifice fly
to right, H Matsui scored, A Rodriguez to third. J Posada stole second.
J Phelps singled to center, A Rodriguez and J Posada scored. R Cano doubled to
left, J Phelps scored, R Cano to third advancing on throw. B Tallet relieved
J Litsch. M Cabrera grounded out to first. (5 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 5,
TORONTO 0.

TORONTO 1ST: A Rios grounded out to third. L Overbay popped out to
shortstop. V Wells flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 5,
TORONTO 0.

NY YANKEES 2ND: J Damon singled to left. D Jeter struck out swinging.
H Matsui singled to shallow left, J Damon to second. A Rodriguez grounded into
fielder's choice to third, H Matsui out at second, J Damon to third.
A Rodriguez stole second. J Posada struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) NY YANKEES 5, TORONTO 0.

TORONTO 2ND: M Stairs struck out looking. F Thomas fouled out to catcher.
A Hill walked. H Clark walked, A Hill to second. S Fasano popped out to
shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 5, TORONTO 0.

NY YANKEES 3RD: J Giambi flied out to center. J Phelps flied out to
center. R Cano doubled to deep right. M Cabrera grounded out to pitcher.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 5, TORONTO 0.

TORONTO 3RD: J McDonald walked. A Rios homered to left, J McDonald scored.
L Overbay struck out swinging. V Wells fouled out to catcher. M Stairs
singled to center. F Thomas walked, M Stairs to second. A Hill reached on
infield single to third, M Stairs to third, F Thomas to second. H Clark flied
out to center. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 5, TORONTO 2.

NY YANKEES 4TH: J Towers relieved B Tallet. J Damon struck out looking.
D Jeter struck out looking. H Matsui grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) NY YANKEES 5, TORONTO 2.

TORONTO 4TH: S Fasano struck out looking. J McDonald homered to left.
A Rios popped out to third. L Overbay flied out to center. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) NY YANKEES 5, TORONTO 3.

NY YANKEES 5TH: A Rodriguez grounded out to third. J Posada grounded out
to second. J Giambi popped out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
NY YANKEES 5, TORONTO 3.

TORONTO 5TH: V Wells flied out to left. M Stairs popped out to shortstop.
F Thomas walked. F Thomas to second on passed ball by J Posada. A Hill
grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 5, TORONTO 3.

NY YANKEES 6TH: J Phelps struck out swinging. R Cano doubled to deep
center. M Cabrera singled to center, R Cano scored. M Cabrera stole second.
J Damon flied out to left. J Frasor relieved J Towers. D Jeter grounded out to
third. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 6, TORONTO 3.

TORONTO 6TH: B Bruney relieved T Clippard. H Clark lined out to left.
S Fasano struck out swinging. J McDonald doubled to left. A Rios lined out to
center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 6, TORONTO 3.

NY YANKEES 7TH: H Matsui struck out swinging. A Rodriguez struck out
swinging. J Posada struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 6,
TORONTO 3.

TORONTO 7TH: D Mientkiewicz at first base. L Overbay flied out to center.
V Wells singled to center. M Stairs homered to right, V Wells scored.
S Proctor relieved B Bruney. F Thomas struck out swinging. A Hill lined out to
left. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 6, TORONTO 5.

NY YANKEES 8TH: J Giambi struck out swinging. D Mientkiewicz grounded out
to shortstop. R Cano singled to left. R Cano caught stealing second, catcher
to shortstop.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 6, TORONTO 5.

TORONTO 8TH: K Farnsworth relieved S Proctor. H Clark singled to center.
A Lind hit for S Fasano. A Lind flied out to center. J McDonald fouled out to
second. A Rios singled to right center, H Clark to second. M Rivera relieved
K Farnsworth. L Overbay grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
NY YANKEES 6, TORONTO 5.

NY YANKEES 9TH: J Phillips catching. S Downs relieved J Frasor. M Cabrera
singled to center. J Damon grounded out to pitcher, M Cabrera to second.
D Jeter intentionally walked. H Matsui grounded into fielder's choice to second,
D Jeter out at second, M Cabrera to third. A Rodriguez singled to center,
M Cabrera scored, H Matsui to second. B Wolfe relieved S Downs. J Posada reached
on infield single to third, H Matsui scored, A Rodriguez to third. J Posada to
second on fielder's indifference. J Giambi singled to center, A Rodriguez and
J Posada scored. M Cairo ran for J Giambi. D Mientkiewicz popped out to
shortstop. (4 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 10, TORONTO 5.

TORONTO 9TH: B Abreu in right field. M Cabrera in center field. V Wells
grounded out to shortstop. M Stairs grounded out to second. F Thomas flied
out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 10, TORONTO 5.</div>

 

Damon makes history, helps Yankees snap skid

<h3>NY YANKEES 10, TORONTO 5</h3>TORONTO (Ticker) -- The 1,999th hit of Johnny Damon's careersnapped the New York Yankees out of their offensive funk.

Damon led off the game with a homer and Josh Phelps drove in apair of runs as the Yankees earned a 10-5 victory over theToronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.

Cano, who had been mired in a 2-for-16 slump, went 4-for-4 witha run scored and an RBI for New York, which had lost fivestraight games after a 3-2 setback here on Tuesday. The Yankeesavoided being swept in consecutive series since 2000, when theydropped sets to Tampa Bay and Baltimore from September26-October 1.

Damon, who has been battling leg cramps all season, singled inthe second inning to push his career hit total to 2,000.

"I'm very proud I got to do it with the Yankees," Damon said. "Iwanted to do it last year because there were two other guys whoaccomplished that feat, (Alex Rodriguez) and Derek Jeter. Iwanted to be the third."

New York piled five runs on Blue Jays rookie Jesse Litsch in thefirst, chasing the rookie hurler after just two-thirds of aninning. The 22-year-old righthander was charged with all fivefirst-inning runs after yielding four hits and issuing twowalks.

"It seems it's been that way with every team I've been on, whenI go things seem to be easier," Damon said. "When I start offwith a hit everybody on the team kind of says, "If Johnny gets ahit so can we.'"

After Damon's leadoff blast, Litsch struck out Derek Jeterbefore allowing a single to Hideki Matsui and issuing a walk toAlex Rodriguez. After Jorge Posada walked, Jason Giambi drovein New York's second run with a sacrifice fly to right-centerfield.

"I was falling behind in a couple of at-bats and they just hit acouple of good pitches," Litsch said. "Damon hit a down-and-infastball over the fence and that kind of got things jumpstarted. I walked two batters and that's not what I usually do,I'm not a walker and it got to me a little bit."

Posada then stole second base, setting up Phelps with runners onsecond and third. The backup first baseman delivered, singlingup the middle to bring home Rodriguez and Posada. Canofollowed with a double, plating Phelps and chasing Litsch fromthe game.

Rookie Tyler Clippard (2-1) started for New York and battledToronto for five innings, holding the powerful lineup to threeruns and four hits. The 22-year-old righthander issued fivewalks and struck out three to earn his second major-league win.

"You're not going to have your best stuff everytime out, Ibattled and was able to make the pitches when I needed to,"Clippard said. "I was able to get us five innings and get thewin."

The Blue Jays battled back to make the score 6-5, when BrianBruney surrendered a two-run blast to veteran utilityman MattStairs in the seventh, but Scott Proctor and Kyle Farnsworthcombined to throw a scoreless inning of relief.

"You get down 5-0 in the first inning, that's the kind of a gamethat ends, 12-1, but we battled back and threw some good atbats against them," Stairs said.

All-Star closer Mariano Rivera picked up a four-out save toclinch the win and notch his fourth save.

Rivera, pitching in his first save situation since May 3, camein with a pair of runners on and two outs in the eighth andescaped the jam.

"I believe it (has been that long for a save opportunity)because I'm living it," Rivera said. "This is baseball andthings like that happen. It has never happened before, but ithappened now, you just have to deal with it."

The Yankees added four runs in the ninth, the last two after acontroversial play in which Rodriguez - running between thethird baseman and the shortstop on an infield pop-up - appearedto call for the ball, causing the fielders to back off as theball dropped to the turf.

"It's a kind of situation where you might not see it again for20 years, hopefully because it was (garbage)," Stairs said.

"I said, 'Ha' and that's it," Rodriguez said. "I was surprisedwhen the ball bounced."

Rodriguez and Blue Jays shortstop John McDonald shouted back andforth for a few moments before being separated by the umpires.