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TORONTO — It was a loopy, goofy affair that the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees staged at the Rogers Centre last night.
It featured stellar pitching, sloppy fielding and clutch hitting.
But the moment that surely will remain frozen for some time in the minds of the 30,116 in attendance happened in the seventh inning of a 1-1 ball game when Toronto's Aaron Hill stole home against Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte.
Never mind the outcome, a gripping 3-2 Blue Jays victory, their second in as many nights over the seriously sagging Yankees, who lost for the fifth time in a row.
Blue Jays second baseman Aaron Hill celebrates after stealing home to put the home up 2-1 in the seventh inning. (Frank Gunn/CP)
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- New York Yankees
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Bobby Abreu
- Jeremy Accardo
- Gustavo Chacin
- Roger Clemens
- Scott Downs
- Aaron Hill
- Shea Hillenbrand
- Derek Jeter
- Brandon League
- Adam Lind
- Jesse Litsch
- Shaun Marcum
- Andy Pettitte
- Jorge Posada
- Scott Proctor
- Alex Rios
- Ryan Roberts
- Vernon Wells
- Brian Wolfe
The play that defined the game was Hill's daring mad dash down the third base line toward home that caught the breath of everyone as it unfolded — everyone except Pettitte, who was clearly caught off-guard by the unexpected ploy.
"It was just a good all-round baseball game … two teams gutting it out," Toronto manager John Gibbons said, shortly after Alex Rios's sacrifice fly to centre field scored Adam Lind, who was tagging at third base, with the winning run in the eighth inning.
But there would have been nothing to gut, perhaps, at least from the Toronto perspective, were it not for some pregame insight from Toronto third-base coach Brian Butterfield.
Butterfield mentioned before the game to Gibbons and the rest of the team that the Jays might be able to pull off a straight steal of home on Pettitte, a left-handed pitcher whose back is pointed toward third base when he works from the stretch.
"Butter's got one of the best minds in baseball, he's in tune with everything," Gibbons said. "And he said this may work if the situation's right. And I said if the situation's right, go for it."
It was and the Jays did.
With Jason Phillips standing at first base, Hill clearly surprised Pettitte when he broke for home just as the pitcher started to gather himself for his next pitch to Royce Clayton, who was positioned in the batter's box.
Pettitte's attention seemed more focused on Phillips at first base when Hill timed his jump perfectly and started motoring for home.
New York catcher Jorge Posada jumped to the front of the plate and hollered at Pettitte for the ball. But by the time the startled veteran reacted, Hill was sliding across home safely in a close play.
"He [Butterfield] told me if we got to a 1-1 count, we're going to try it," the Toronto second baseman said. "So I started to get a little nervous. Luckily it worked out."
It marked the first straight steal of home by a Toronto player since April of 2001, when Raul Mondesi pulled it off — also against the Yankees.
"It just so happened everything was right," Butterfield said. "We had a good runner, an aggressive base runner at third base. We had a runner at first base and we were deep into the game.
"It was kind of one of those roll the dice type of things where you hope you get the right break."
The Rogers crowd erupted in delight at the play's success, but their jubilation was short-lived as the Yankees came back in the eighth inning to tie the score when Posada singled to right field, scoring Derek Jeter from second base.
The Jays countered again in the bottom half of the eighth inning, beginning with a leadoff double to left field by Lind. Lind took third base on a sacrifice bunt by John McDonald to set things up for the winning play by Rios.
All the late heroics overshadowed another fine outing by a Toronto starting pitcher.
Shaun Marcum delivered a tidy effort over the six innings he worked, holding the Yankees off the board through the six innings he worked, allowing two hits while striking out six batters.
Marcum was lifted in favour of lefty Scott Downs, who gave up a home run to Jason Giambi, the first batter he faced. Giambi launched a 2-0 pitch over the wall in left-centre field to knot the score 1-1.
Marcum was pitching under difficult circumstances, having had just a couple hours of sleep after he and their wife spent most of the night at the hospital with their seven-month-old son, Ryne, who became suddenly ill with an undisclosed illness.
"That was probably the main thing on my mind [as he pitched]," Marcum said, referring to the health of his son. "It was in my head the whole time. But you still got a job to do."
The victory went to Jeremy Accardo, who came on in the ninth inning to close out the Yankees in order.
The hard-luck Yankees are starving for some good news and they believe they may have received some yesterday. Roger Clemens is ready to go after a stint in the minor leagues. The Rocket will probably make his first start for New York on Monday in Chicago against the White Sox.
The Yankees announced three weeks ago that they had enticed the multiple Cy Young Award winner out of retirement in the hopes that the 44-year-old will add some stability to a starting rotation that has been ravaged by injuries for most of the season.
"It's probably going to be the first day in Chicago," New York manager Joe Torre confirmed before last night's game about Clemens's 2007 debut with the Yankees. "But that's a probable until I talk to him."
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Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay's batting average against left-handers this season going into Tuesday night's game, seventh best in the American League.
The Big Hit
Well, it wasn't exactly a hit, but how about Aaron Hill's daring steal of home in the bottom of the seventh inning that provided the Jays with a 2-1 lead?
The Big Miss
New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter made a nice diving stab of a ground ball struck by Alex Rios in the first inning, but his throw from his knees sailed wide of first base, allowing Rios to go to second base on the error. Rios later came around to score the game's first run.
