Deivi Garcia. Gleyber Torres. They're the reasons the New York Yankees snapped their ugly five-game losing streak Wednesday night in Sahlen Field.
Garcia pitched seven strong innings for his first MLB win and Torres homered and drove in four runs as the Yankees dumped the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-2, to salvage the finale of a three-game series.
The Yankees (22-21) ended a three-game winning streak by Toronto (24-19) and got back within two games of the Jays in the battle for second in the American League East. The teams still have seven meetings left, including three next week in the Bronx and a four-game set here Sept. 21-24.
"It's like a discotheque out there right now," a relieved manager Aaron Boone joked about the volume of the celebratory clubhouse music. "I really felt we played well (in Tuesday's 2-1 loss) and couldn't punch through and score runs. I thought we followed it up today with a really good game in every aspect."
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Garcia (1-1) won in his third career start, allowing just five hits while retiring 15 of the final 16 men he faced. He struck out six and walked none, becoming the first starter in Yankee history to have two of his first three starts include no walks and six or more strikeouts.
"It started early today. From the moment I got here, I believed we were going to win," Garcia said through an interpreter. "I just wanted to do my job, go as deep as I could in the game and help the bullpen rest. I didn't see (the losing streak) as pressure. I saw it more as a responsibility to go out there and give us a chance."
Torres supported him with a solo home run in the second, a two-run double in the fifth and RBI groundout in the ninth. Torres, who had 38 homers and 90 RBIs last season, came into this game batting just .225 with six RBIs in an injury-plagued season.
DeGrom on deck
In his battle for a third straight National League Cy Young Award, the New York Mets will send right-hander Jacob deGrom to the mound in the opener of a three-game series against the Blue Jays here Friday night. The 6:37 p.m. game will be televised on SNY.
DeGrom is 3-1 with a 1.69 earned-run average this season over eight starts and the Mets are 6-2 in those games. He has struck out 70 and walked just 11 in 48 innings. His ERA is second in the NL to Chicago's Yu Darvish (1.44) and his strikeout total is No. 1.
In his last start Sunday against Philadelphia, deGrom struck out 12 batters over seven innings in a 14-1 Mets win. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in 12 straight starts going back to last season.
Among NL pitchers, only Randy Johnson (1999-2002) and Greg Maddux (1992-95) have won the Cy Young at least three straight times.
In honor of No. 21
As part of Roberto Clemente Day celebrations across baseball, the teams wore uniform patches on their jerseys. Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo, one of two Puerto Rican skippers, got permission to change his uniform number to Clemente's 21 for the game. So did Jays third-base coach Luis Rivera.
"There's a saying in Puerto Rico that every Puerto Rican wears No. 21 on the back and I'm one of those," Montoyo said. "It's a great day for me. I'm very proud. Roberto Clemente is my idol. I'm very happy we're having this day to honor him."
Montoyo was 7 when Clemente died in a plane crash on New Year's Eve in 1972 while traveling to Nicaragua to bring aid to earthquake victims. He remembered traveling 2 1/2 hours to San Juan as a child to see Clemente at a youth clinic.
"I remember being in awe and just sitting there seeing him talking. It was awesome," Montoyo said.
Celebrating the everlasting legacy of Roberto Clemente 💙💛 #ClementeDay pic.twitter.com/KOKd6H4I1X
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 9, 2020
