TORONTO — If you’re old enough, perhaps you remember that the Yankees set their 1978 highlight film, hosted by the great Bill White, to the Ringo Starr song “It Don’t Come Easy.”
Since 36 years have passed, that’s more than enough time to recycle that hit for Joe Girardi’s current group, don’t you think?
Not that these Yankees appear poised to win a World Series as their long-ago predecessors did with Bob Lemon, Ron Guidry and Bucky Dent. But gosh, nothing comes easy for this team.
Even a solid 5-3 victory over the Blue Jays Wednesday night at Rogers Centre — a win that halted a four-game losing streak, avoided a sweep and pulled the Yankees (40-37) within 2 1/2 games of the Blue Jays (44-36) in the watered-down American League East — felt as simple as nuclear physics meshed with brain surgery.
“Until that last out was squeezed at first base, we’re not comfortable,” said Mark Teixeira, who drove the offense with a homer and three RBIs.
The Yankees tallied nine hits, five walks and a hit batter, yet they produced a modest five runs because they went 1-for-10 (with three walks and a sacrifice fly) with runners in scoring position. They also went 0-for-2 on stolen-base attempts.
That frustration on the offensive side led to stress on the pitching side, as Hiroki Kuroda and the Yankees bullpen faced the dangerous Blue Jays lineup without a great deal of room for error. Ultimately, Girardi turned to his rested closer David Robertson, who hadn’t pitched since June 18, to deliver a five-out save, his 18th.
It all worked out for a much-needed win, and the Yankees weren’t going to sweat the details as they packed up their belongings for an off day at home. “We hit a little bit of a rough patch,” Robertson said. “We were fortunate to sneak one out here.”
Nevertheless, the Yankees’ trend lines continue to underwhelm. They have now played nine games in this 15-game stretch against AL East foes. They’re 5-4, and their five victories have arrived by a combined 12 runs, or 2.4 runs per win. Their losses have been received by a total of 19 runs, or 4.75 runs per loss. That doesn’t allow for much low-key baseball, especially when your starting pitchers not named Masahiro Tanaka don’t give you length and you must lean heavily on your relief corps.
Teixeira’s two-run homer highlighted a four-run third and put the Yankees up, 4-1. Against this Blue Jays lineup, though — even one without Jose Bautista — and with a diminished Kuroda pitching, that doesn’t represent a huge cushion. The Jays closed to 4-3 in the fifth when old Yankees pal Melky Cabrera drilled a two-run single.
Kuroda keeps the Yankees in games, yet he clearly has diminished from a year ago, when he could be counted on to provide both excellence and distance. He now serves as a human quality start; by allowing three runs in 6 1/3 innings, he kept his ERA at 4.23.
Girardi pushed the right buttons when Kuroda surpassed the 100-pitch mark in the seventh, going to Shawn Kelley and Matt Thornton to finish up that frame before Adam Warren got one out in the eighth. Then a crisp Robertson went five up, five down.
For sure, Girardi and his pitchers would kill for a night when they didn’t have to work so hard. On this night, it seemed as if their wish just might be granted. Until it never was.
The Yankees loaded the bases in two innings, first with two outs in the fifth and then with no outs in the seventh. Ichiro Suzuki ended the first threat with an inning-ending groundout to first base. In the seventh, Teixeira lofted a sacrifice fly, scoring Brett Gardner from third base with a much-appreciated insurance run, and then Carlos Beltran struck out. After Ichiro walked to load the bases again, Brian Roberts flied out to center field to keep the game close.
“I felt like we had a chance to break it open,” Girardi said. “But we had enough, and our pitchers did the job. That four-spot was nice.”
This all could be helped, as we all have been opining for months now, if the Yankees’ well-compensated bats hit up to their expectations; only Teixeira, now with 14 homers, is doing so.
In a happy post-game clubhouse, a smiling yet resigned Girardi told the media that, due to bad weather here, the team didn’t even have a plane to head back to New York. Nothing comes easy for this team. And if it doesn’t get any easier, it will be awfully difficult for the Yankees to put together the sort of run that gets a team into October.