TORONTO – Brandon Morrow allowed four hits and one run in 6 2/3 innings and the Toronto Blue Jays won their fifth game in a row by defeating the New York Yankees 7-1 on Friday.
Morrow (6-4) struck out six, walked two and left to a standing ovation with two out in the seventh after a strong 112-pitch outing.
It was the second win in a row for the Blue Jays (47-47) over the Yankees (53-37) since the all-star break and they were playing without major-league home run leader Jose Bautista.
He left Thursday’s game in the third inning after twisting his right ankle sliding into third.
Reliever Jason Frasor pitched the ninth, making his 452nd appearance as a Blue Jay to tie Duane Ward for the franchise record for games by a pitcher. Frasor allowed three hits in the inning but no runs.
Toronto scored six runs, five earned, against New York starter Freddy Garcia (7-7) who allowed seven hits in five innings.
The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the first inning. Eric Thames doubled with one out and scored on a single by Yunel Escobar, who batted in Bautista’s usual third spot in the order. Escobar had three hits and two runs batted in with a walk.
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Thames was able to keep going around third when left-fielder Brett Gardner threw to second.
The Yankees tied it in the second when Eduardo Nunez hit a run-scoring single.
Morrow retired the next 13 batters before Nick Swisher singled in the sixth.
With Bautista sidelined, Edwin Encarnacion played third and made a spectacular play in the fourth inning on Russell Martin of Chelsea, Que. He dove to his left to grab the bouncer and threw from a sitting position to first for the out. The crowd cheered Encarnacion who is better known for his poor fielding.
Encarnacion had the crowd cheering again in the bottom of the fourth when his one-out double scored Travis Snider who had doubled. Jose Molina’s two-out single scored Encarnacion to put Toronto into a 3-1 lead.
The Blue Jays added three runs to the lead in the fifth that Thames started with his second double of the game despite limping out of the batter’s box with a leg cramp. Escobar and Adam Lind walked to load the bases. Thames scored when Aaron Hill grounded to short to force Lind at second as the Yankees failed to turn the double play.
Hill then stole second before Snider hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Escobar. Hill and Encarnacion, who was walked intentionally, then caught the Yankees napping with a double steal and Hill came home on the play on catcher Martin’s throwing error.
Escobar drove in a run in the eighth with his third hit of the game.
Notes: Attendance at Rogers Centre was 33,525….The game was delayed briefly in the sixth when a fan ran on the field. Another fan ran on the field in the ninth … Thames was replaced as designated hitter by Mike McCoy in the sixth. …The Blue Jays hope Bautista might return on Sunday but Tuesday against Seattle is more likely the earliest return day. … Right-hander Dustin McGowan allowed one hit and struck out three in 2 2/3 innings as he continues his rehabilitation assignment with single-A Dunedin. … Toronto’s Ricky Romero (7-8, 3.09 earned-run average) and New York’s CC Sabathia (13-4, 2.72 ERA) meet Saturday in a duel of left-handers. … According to Elias, the Blue Jays 16-7 win over New York on Thursday was the 29th time in franchise history that Toronto has had 20 or more hits in a game, but only the second time they did so without hitting a home run. Toronto had 20 hits and no homers in a 14-0 win at Tampa Bay on July 1, 2004.
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