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 Instead it was right where Beltran could hit it.
The New York Yankees pinch-hitter hammered the 1-2 pitch to right
center for a three-run homer, enough for a 4-3 victory that ended
the Blue Jays' 11-game winning streak.
"With the (noisy sellout) crowd in the stands I was a little amped
up," Sanchez (6-5) said. "And I saw that I threw the first pitch by
him, it was elevated, so I was just trying to attack there the whole
at-bat.
"The fourth pitch, to me, seemed like it was right over the plate.
The moral of the story is I didn't get my job done, and it cost us a
win."
Beltran's homer capped a four-run eighth for the Yankees (63-51),
who regained a half-game lead over the second-place Blue Jays
(64-53) in the American League East.
"As soon as I hit it, I knew it was going to leave the ballpark,"
Beltran said. "It's a good feeling being able to come off the bench
and come through and help the team win a ball game."
Yankees right-hander Ivan Nova (5-4) overcame a three-run third
inning for the victory. Nova allowed five hits, one walk and three
runs in seven innings. He also hit two batters and struck out three.
Blue Jays left-hander David Price allowed 11 hits, no walks and
three runs in 7 1/3 innings and did not factor in the decision. He
struck out six.
"We knew those guys were going to be ready to play tonight," Price
said. "They snuck it in late. A loss like this can definitely bring
your team closer whenever it happens like that. In this situation I
know that we're going to come ready to win tomorrow."
Price did not allow a run until the eighth when he gave up three
straight hits with one out as he tried for his third win in as many
starts since he was acquired in a trade with the Detroit Tigers on
July 30.
TOUGH DECISION
Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira and catcher Brian McCann singled
with one out in the eighth. Third baseman Chase Headley hit an RBI
double. Sanchez replaced Price before Beltran, batting for right
fielder Chris Young, hit his 11th homer of the season.
"It was a tough decision, no question about it," Blue Jays manager
John Gibbons said. "It backfired. I felt good about putting Sanchy
in. It didn't work. When those don't work, you analyze them, that's
for sure."
Yankees right-hander Dellin Betances pitched the eighth and
left-hander Andrew Miller worked a nervous ninth to pick up his 26th
save of the season.
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Pinch-hitter Chris Colabello walked with one out in the ninth and
Cliff Pennington ran for him. Center fielder Kevin Pillar singled to
send Pennington to second.
A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. Left fielder Ben
Revere struck out to bring up shortstop Troy Tulowitzki with two
outs, but he struck out on a 3-2 pitch to end the game after fouling
off several tough pitches in a 12-pitch at-bat.
"It was a great battle but Andrew got a big strikeout," Yankees
manager Joe Girardi said. "Hopefully it gives us confidence. We went
through a tough streak there offensively. I thought we did a pretty
good job against a really good pitcher in David Price."
"The whole inning was such a grind," Miller said. "I felt like I was
making pitches and I thought I had good stuff.
Great all around win, glad I was able to nail it down. It wasn't
pretty. That was a playoff atmosphere. These fans are insane right
now and rightfully so."
The Blue Jays scored three runs in the third to build their lead.
Pillar reached first base to lead off the inning when he was hit by
an 0-2 curveball. Revere singled to send Pillar to third with the
Blue Jays' first hit of the game. Tulowitzki's grounder up the
middle was deflected by Nova to Yankees shortstop Didi Gregrorius,
who got the force at second base as Pillar scored the first run.
Third baseman Josh Donaldson then singled to left and right fielder
Jose Bautista smacked an RBI double to left. Designated hitter Edwin
Encarnacion lifted a sacrifice fly to center.
(Compiled by Peter Rutherford)
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