Offense backs up Joba, Ransom

The Blue Jays (42-41) scored five unearned runs on Cody Ransom’s fielding error in the fourth inning, knocking Joba Chamberlain out of the game, but the Yankees (48-33) came back to win 8-2.

Quick ‘Cap:
Jorge Posada had two singles and two RBI in the first two innings to propel the Yankees to a 4-0 lead. Adam Lind’s two-run homer in the third brought the Blue Jays right back in the game, and a five-run fourth gave them the lead. After getting what would have been the third out, Chamberlain allowed four straight hits, including a two-run homer to Aaron Hill.

Jon Albaladejo finished the fourth for Joba and pitched an easy fifth, eventually earning the win. Hideki Matsui’s three-run homer in the fourth cut the deficit to one, and Derek Jeter’s two-run homer in the fifth gave the Yankees the lead for good. Alfredo Aceves pitched the final four innings to earn his first career save. Full box score here.

Thoughts:
I feel bad for Joba who is still trying to prove he can be a starter at the major league level. He did give up nine hits in 3-2/3 innings, so I’m guessing he wasn’t going to go very deep in this game anyway.

Excluding the Yankees offense, Aceves is the player of the game by far. It’s not easy to shut down the Blue Jays like he did. Girardi already excluded the notion of him coming out of the pen to start in Chien-Ming Wang’s place, but this has to tempt him to break another promise.

Line of the Day:
Aceves: 4 IP, 1 H, zeroes, 5 K. That’s a heck of a relief job, and it edged out two four-hit performances!

Up Next:
The Yankees will look to sweep the Blue Jays Monday afternoon with Andy Pettitte (8-3, 4.25) on the mound. Lefty Ricky Romero (6-3, 2.85) will look to keep rolling.