MLB

Ichiro powers surging Yankees into wild-card lead

The Yankees have found all sorts of unusual ways to win games this season, with their rotation in shambles and their lineup almost devoid of power.

On Friday, they got a key home run from Ichiro Suzuki, who hadn’t homered in almost a year, and his three-run shot sparked a 6-4 victory over the Blue Jays.
The win also moved the Yankees past Toronto and into sole possession of the second AL wild-card spot.

“It’s better than the alternative,” manager Joe Girardi said after the Yankees won their fourth straight game and triumphed for the seventh time in eight games since the All-Star break. “But it doesn’t mean a whole lot with 60 games to go.”

If they could face the Blue Jays in The Bronx — and Mark Buehrle anywhere — more often, the Yankees would probably run away with the division.

Buehrle gave up six runs in just six innings, his shortest outing of the season, and fell to 1-12 lifetime versus the Yankees. Friday also marked the Yankees’ 17th straight victory over Toronto at The Stadium.

When asked about the Yankees’ perennial success off the left-hander, Girardi couldn’t explain it.

“I have no idea,” Girardi said. “It’s hard to say. He’s a really good pitcher.”
Normally that’s the case, but Ichiro is now 25-for-58 lifetime against Buehrle. He hadn’t homered in 294 at-bats or had an extra-base hit since July 11, but went deep off Buehrle in the third for a three-run shot that gave the Yankees a two-run lead.

The veteran outfielder said he was aware of how long his power drought had been. His homer came after Carlos Beltran’s solo shot earlier in the inning.

They helped erase a 3-0 deficit in which Hiroki Kuroda found himself just four batters into the game. With two on and one out, Kuroda unwittingly left a 3-0 pitch over the plate to Jose Bautista and the right fielder made him pay with a three-run homer.

“I knew he was going to swing 3-0,” Kuroda said through a translator. “I tried to move my pitch.”

It was a bad mistake by Kuroda, but the Yankees got a pair of runs back in the second after loading the bases with no one out. Brian Roberts had a run-scoring single and Brett Gardner followed with a sacrifice fly.

Buehrle (10-7), who had cooled off over his previous seven outings after a sizzling start to the season, allowed singles to Brian McCann and Chase Headley before walking Ichiro to load the bases with no outs.

Brian Roberts then reached on an infield single to third, driving in McCann.
Kuroda (7-6) settled down after the rocky first before Bautista hit his second homer of the game to make it 4-2 in the third.

But Beltran got the Yankees within one run with his home run and McCann and Headley added singles before Ichiro’s big blow, his first since August 30 of last year against Baltimore at The Stadium.

It had been so long that Derek Jeter had taken to jokingly taunting Ichiro for his inability to hit a homer, saying “Can’t leave” whenever one of Ichiro’s fly balls fell short of leaving the field for a homer.

Even after Ichiro’s streak finally ended, the Yankees had a long way to go to finish the game.

Kuroda left after 5 ²/₃ innings and the bullpen pitched 3 ¹/₃ scoreless innings, with David Robertson closing it for his 26th save.