TORONTO — Even with their best player performing like a MVP candidate across the last two weeks, the Yankees had a hard time getting acquainted with home plate.
Now, they may have to do without Jacoby Ellsbury for an extended stretch, thanks to a sprained and sore left ankle that kept the leadoff hitter out of Saturday’s 2-0 loss to the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre in front of 45,863. The Yankees were held to a season-low one hit by Drew Hutchison and Aaron Sanchez.
“You can’t rely on one guy and a lot of guys have to contribute,’’ manager Joe Girardi said after Mark Teixeira’s double in the fourth was the lone hit. “We had one hit and we didn’t swing the bats particularly well. Of course we miss Jake and wish he was in there, but other guys have to pick it up.’’
With the way Hutchison threw the ball, Ellsbury, who took a 20-for-44 (.455) hot streak to the bench after suffering the injury Friday night at a home plate collision, might not have helped. And because Girardi said Ellsbury would have been a disabled list candidate if the rosters didn’t expand Monday, the Yankees might without Ellsbury for a while.
At no point during Hutchison’s 103-pitch outing did he resemble the pitcher who was 1-3 with a 7.08 ERA in four starts against the Yankees this year.
“That’s the best I have seen him locate the whole game,’’ said Brian McCann, one of two batters Hutchison hit in the fourth when the bases were loaded and two outs for Martin Prado, who flied out on a 2-0 pitch.
Teixeira, whose double came between Carlos Beltran and McCann getting hit off a high change-up, suggested Hutchinon (9-11) was near perfect.
“He didn’t make any mistakes and his slider was really good,’’ said Teixeira, who is in a 2-for-29 (.069) funk. “Every pitch that he missed with was out of the zone. He didn’t miss over the plate.’’
The same couldn’t be said of Michael Pineda, who had the misfortune of pitching in front of the Dead Bat Society.
With Jose Reyes on third and two outs in the fourth inning Pineda was ahead of Jose Bautista, 0-2, and looking to bury a slider down and away. Instead, the slider ended up in the heart of the plate and Bautista lined it off the second deck façade in left field for the game’s only two runs.
“The frustrating part is that he gave up two in the first on a 0-2 pitch,’’ Girardi said.
Because Detroit split with the White Sox in a day-night doubleheader, the Yankees lost a half game in the race for the second AL wild-card spot and trail the Tigers and Royals, who lost 3-2 to the Indians, by 3 ¹/₂ games. They are eight games behind the AL East-leading Orioles, who defeated the Twins 3-2.
Pineda (3-3) rebounded with five scoreless innings before leaving in the seventh with runners on second and third and no outs. Shawn Kelley surfaced from the bullpen and stranded the runners to keep the Yankees close.
But close was all the Yankees got. Sanchez retired the final six batters, whiffing three of them.
“His fastball got on the hitters quicker than they thought,’’ Girardi said of Hutchison’s low-to-mid 90s heater. “He beat us with his fastball and it had good run to it.’’
A good run is what the Yankees need to play in October. With Ellsbury limping in the clubhouse, that run is more likely to resemble a fat man’s waddle.