Toronto 6 New York 5
TORONTO — When Blue Jays outfielder Travis Snider picked up his third strikeout of the game — this time with the bases loaded — he split a bat over his leg and threw the two pieces to the ground in frustration.
He got a chance to atone for his missed opportunity in the 10th inning and took full advantage.
Snider smacked a double off the wall in right-centre field to knock in the winning run and give Toronto a 6-5 come-from-behind win over the New York Yankees on Tuesday night.
Edwin Encarnacion opened the 10th with a single off Ivan Nova (1-2) and came all the way around to score on Snider’s two-out double. The rally came after a rare meltdown by Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who blew a two-run lead in the ninth.
“That’s all the inspiration we need as players is to see what we did in the ninth inning against Mariano,” Snider said. “To be able to give ourselves a chance ... to go out there and just have that shot, I’m very thankful for it.”
Jays manager John Farrell said he talked to Snider a few times during the game to keep his confidence up.
“We all saw the frustration,” Farrell said. “But to his credit, he didn’t cash in the night. He had an opportunity to win and obviously he did.”
Jon Rauch (1-1) picked up the victory after working the top half of the 10th for Toronto (8-9).
Rivera came into the ninth with a 5-3 lead and ended up blowing his first save of the season. Yunel Escobar started the rally with a double and moved to third on a Snider grounder. Escobar scored on a wild pitch after a Jose Bautista walk.
“I was upset at that one, definitely,” Rivera said. “In that situation, you can’t do that.”
Bautista moved to third on an Adam Lind single and John McDonald dropped a magnificent bunt single down the first-base line that brought the Jays slugger home with the tying run.
“I thought the pitch was inside and high,” Rivera said. “He put it in play and did a tremendous job. You have to give credit.”
The Blue Jays loaded the bases before Rivera got out of the jam when Corey Patterson hit into an inning-ending double play.
Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson homered for New York (9-6). Bautista hit his fourth homer of the season for the Blue Jays.
Jays starter Kyle Drabek gave up six hits and four earned runs over five-plus innings. Yankees starter A.J. Burnett gave up six hits and two earned runs in five-plus innings against his former team. The three-hour 59-minute game was played in front of 25,250 fans at Rogers Centre.
Bautista opened the scoring in the first with a rainbow solo shot that landed in the second level of seats in left field, just inside the foul pole.
New York answered in the top of the second with a pair of runs. Drabek started the inning by giving up a pair of walks. Jorge Posada singled to left-centre field to push Nick Swisher across. With runners on the corners, Russell Martin of Chelsea, Que., hit into a double play but Eric Chavez scored from third.
The Jays tied the game in the third by taking advantage of some sloppy play. Bautista drew a one-out walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Lind hit a comebacker to Burnett, who ran off the mound and threw to shortstop Derek Jeter, who couldn’t come up with it. That left runners on the corners and Bautista later scored on an Aaron Hill sacrifice fly.
Martin opened the fifth inning with a double. Brett Gardner tried to push him to third with a bunt but Drabek pounced on it and Martin was tagged after a rundown. Jeter lined out to right and Jose Molina fired an excellent throw to second to catch Gardiner stealing.
With the score tied 2-2, Teixeira put the Yankees ahead in the sixth with a blast to deep right-centre field off Drabek, who was relieved by Jason Frasor later in the inning.
Hill left the game in the bottom half of the frame after sliding into second base. He was replaced by McDonald, who scored on an Encarnacion double. Patterson, who reached on a walk, moved to third and Burnett was pulled after walking Jayson Nix to load the bases. David Robertson came on in relief and struck out Escobar and Snider.
Frasor gave up a solo shot to Granderson in the seventh inning. Mark Rzepczynski, Carlos Villanueva, Shawn Camp and Rauch saw action in relief for the Blue Jays.
Joba Chamberlain and Rafael Soriano threw an inning apiece before Rivera came on in the ninth.
Hill is considered day to day with tightness in his right hamstring. The Yankees did not have third baseman Alex Rodriguez in the lineup due to a sore left oblique. He is expected to start Wednesday night in the finale of the two-game series.
Notes: Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano singled in the sixth inning to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. ... Teixeira leads the Yankees with six home runs this season. ... Earlier Tuesday, the Blue Jays activated right-handed pitcher Frank Francisco from the 15-day disabled list and optioned right-hander Jesse Litsch to the triple-A Las Vegas 51s. ... Toronto has an off-day Thursday before starting a three-game series Friday against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays. ... The Blue Jays were 10-8 against the Yankees last season, their first season series win over New York since 2000. ... Entering Tuesday’s games, Toronto led the major leagues with 21 stolen bases. ... This was the first of 18 games between the teams this season. Each club will host nine games.