N.Y. YANKEES 5 TORONTO 2
One bad pitch, one big inning.
That has been the problem of late for Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Aaron Laffey and it reared its ugly head again Saturday afternoon.
Casey McGehee belted a three-run homer off Laffey as the New York Yankees beat Toronto 5-2 and handed the Blue Jays a fifth straight loss.
Right-hander Ivan Nova (11-6) fanned 10 to earn New York (67-46) its fourth straight win before a Rogers Centre sellout of 45,582. The Yankees moved a whopping 14 games ahead of last-place Toronto (53-60) in the American League East standings.
Laffey (3-3) allowed five runs on seven hits and four walks over 5 2 /3 innings.
"It's one of those games where you kind of beat your head against the wall," Laffey said. "You pitched real well pretty much the entire game and have one inning wreck the whole outing.
"I kind of put the team out of the game a little bit."
But he saw some positives.
"I went back and looked at some film and I'm confident and comfortable with where I'm at right now though after watching the progression I've made over the last couple of games," Laffey said. "Just got to keep working.
"Can't let it be one pitch every time out, You just can't let that happen."
Toronto manager John Farrell said consistency is Laffey's biggest problem.
"He has been hurt with a couple of pitches that have found the middle of the plate," Farrell said. "Whether it was the three-run homer over in Oakland or the three-run homer today.
"That has been the difference, the consistency on the edges where he's got to pitch."
After the game, New York played ace left-hander CC Sabathia on the disabled list with inflammation in his left elbow. He could return Aug. 24 against Cleveland.
"As far as the concern, it's pretty low level because it's not like it got any worse." Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He wants to pitch Monday, which I'm not surprised because he said he dealt with it before.
"We just decided, let's try to get it cleaned up now." Nova came in looking for his first win since July 8. Since claiming a victory at Boston, he was 0-3 with an 8.36 earned-run average in five starts before Saturday's game.
Girardi praised Nova's effort against Toronto.
"He threw really well today," Girardi said. "I thought his curveball was very good.
"For the most part he spotted his fastball pretty well. He threw some good sliders, it was more consistent than it has been."
Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth for his 28th save.
SEATTLE 7 L.A. ANGELS 4
ANAHEIM, California - Hisashi Iwakuma took a four-hitter into the eighth inning, John Jason homered, and the Seattle Mariners ended a fivegame skid with a 7-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night.
Angels rookie phenom Mike Trout robbed Miguel Olivo of a two-run homer in the eighth inning, timing his leap perfectly at the fence in straightaway centre field and throwing to first base to double off Eric Thames. But all it did was prevent the Mariners from adding on to their 7-1 lead.
Iwakuma (3-3) allowed three runs and six hits in seven-plus innings and struck out four in his seventh major league start. The right-hander, staked to a 7-0 lead one night after teammate Felix Hernandez squandered a 5-0 cushion in Seattle's 6-5 loss, gave up his only runs on Vernon Wells' RBI single in the fifth and a two-run homer by Wells in the eighth on his 86th and final pitch.
Kendrys Morales homered in the ninth against closer Tom Wilhelmsen.
