Pinch hitter Russell Martin came up big for his team with a single to bring home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the New York Yankees 3-1 Monday night at the Rogers Centre.
It was a real pitchers duel between Jays starter R.A. Dickey and Chase Whitley. Whitley held the Jays to seven scoreless innings before the home team rallied back for three runs off Yankee relievers Chris Martin (0-1) and Dellin Betances.
Neither team were able to get anything going against the opposing pitcher, until the visiting team finally broke the deadlock in the seventh inning. Carlos Beltran hit a double to open the inning and moved to third on a ground out from Stephen Drew. Garrett Jones scored Beltran on an RBI grounder.
Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista hit back-to-back singles in the eighth inning off Martin, before Edwin Encarnacion hit a double to bring home Donaldson to even the score at one a piece. With runners in scoring position, Martin grounded a single to third base, scoring one.
Chase Headley prevented an extra base hit with a nice snag right outside the foul line, but Jones was unable to come up with the catch at first, scoring a second on the play through the error, giving Toronto a 3-1 advantage.
Dickey (1-3) picked up his first win of the season, allowing just one run and three hits in eight innings, before handing the ball off to Brett Cecil who finished the game off for his second save.
Whitley allowed six hits and struck out six, leaving the game after the seventh locked in for the win. Unfortunately for him, his bullpen could not hold off the Jays and he was tagged with the no decision.
Marco Estrada takes the mound tomorrow night for Toronto in the second of a three game series against the Yankees. Estrada is set to make his first start of the season, replacing the recently demoted to Triple-A Daniel Norris in the rotation. Michael Pineda is expected to start for New York, who’s 3-0 this season.