Yankees snap Blue Jays home field mastery with dramatic ninth-inning win
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Sure, the Bronx Bombers have been struggling as they've essentially handed the Jays first place in the American League East, a dramatic turnabout in such a short time frame.
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Apparently there's still some pride in the Pinstripes, however as they jumped on veteran Max Scherzer and out to an early 4-1 lead before yet another exuberant sellout Rogers Centre crowd.
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The plucky Jays fought back to tie it only to see Yankees first baseman Ben Rice clobber a solo homer in the ninth to secure a 5-4 win to squelch the bleeding from the defending division champs. It was the Bronx Bombers first victory since losing a four-gamer here earlier in the month and dropping Monday's opener of this three-game set. The loss also defused the Jays franchise record, 11-game home winning streak.
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The winning blow came off of Jays closer Jeff Hoffman, who was making his fourth appearance in five days as manager John Schneider was clearly going for the jugular against the Yankees, who moved back to within three games of Toronto's lead in the AL East.
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The Jays prospects seemed dire in the early going, but then the familiar chorus of this resilient team kicked in yet again.
After falling into that 4-1 hole, the Jays resolutely chipped away at the Yankees lead. Addison Barger got it started with his second RBI single of the night in the fifth to cut the deficit to two and then it was pinch-hitting Davis Schneider's turn to deliver a clutch hit, an RBI double in the sixth to score another pinch hitter, Myles Straw.
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Two batters later, George Springer ripped a single towards Aaron Judge in right field and just like that it was a 4-4 ball game.
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The Jays had opportunities to finish off the comeback, too. George Springer was left on second base to end the sixth when Vlad Guerrero Jr. struck out in one of those moments that the Jays need him to come up big in.
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In the seventh, a hard-hit double to lead things off from Bo Bichette yielded nothing, either, setting the stage for Rice's decisive homer in the ninth.
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Guerrero attempted to get the rally started with a leadoff single off of Yankees closer Devin Williams in the ninth but a Bichette strikeout was followed by a loud fly ball out to right field by Barger and a strikeout of catcher Alejandro Kirk.
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The loss snapped the Jays franshise-record home winning streak at 11 games and set up a rubber match in the three-game series for Wednesday.
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