TORONTO — Cito Gaston asked Jason Frasor who he wanted to pitch to in the eighth inning. The answer broke a two-game Yankees losing streak.
Standing on the Rogers Centre mound, Gaston gave Frasor a choice: work to Robinson Cano or Jorge Posada with the score tied, runners on second and third and two outs.
Frasor, who caught Alex Rodriguez looking for the second out after Mark Teixeira was walked intentionally to load the bases, opted to go after Cano despite him having two hits and a lot better swings than the ice cold Posada.
“It didn’t cross my mind because there were two outs,’’ said Cano, who laced a two-run opposite-field single to left that lifted the Yankees to a much-needed 4-3 win in front of 33,622.
For seven innings it appeared the Yankees were going to waste Javier Vazquez’ best outing of the year.
Vazquez allowed two runs and one hit – Vernon Wells’ second-inning, two-run homer in the sixth -` through seven.
“I am happy we were able to win the game and score some runs,’’ said Vazquez, who is 5-5 and has won three of his past four starts.
Friday night the Yankees scored once. Saturday it was twice. In those games they went a combined 2-for-18 (.111) with runners in scoring position. So when Wells crushed a 0-2 pitch into the left-field seats the Yankees were on the verge of getting swept.
Blue Jays starter Brandon Morrow gave them life by hitting Francisco Cervelli and reliever Scott Downs did the same to Brett Gardner opening the eighth. Derek Jeter followed with a double inside the right-field foul line to plate Cervelli. Gardner would score on a passed ball with Rodriguez up to tie the score, 2-2.
“We pitched well the last couple of games and they pitched well,’’ said Jeter, who fanned with Gardner on third and one out in the third. “We are fortunate to get this one.’’
Asked to protect a two-run lead in the eighth, Joba Chamberlain gave up a leadoff double to No. 9 hitter Jose Molina and an RBI single to Fred Lewis. That got Mariano Rivera up in the pen but Chamberlain restored order by getting Aaron Hill to bang into a 4-6-3 double play.
That set off a confusing situation. Because Joe Girardi was ejected in the eighth by plate ump Bruce Dreckman for arguing a called third strike on Nick Swisher, bench coach Tony Pena made the pitching change.
Pena called the bullpen and asked for Rivera. When he crossed the first base foul line he signaled to the bullpen with his left arm, indicating he wanted left-hander Damaso Marte.
“On the way out I changed my mind,’’ said Pena, who went with his gut. “The umpire told me, ‘You asked for Marte.’ ’’
Rivera was on the mound and had to jog back to the pen where he watched Marte fan the left-handed hitting Adam Lind for the final out.
“I was told I was going in, I never check, I never do,’’ said Rivera, who worked a perfect ninth for his 13th save in 14 chances. “The big thing is that Javy pitched well for us. That’s the most important thing.’’
Armed with a tantalizing change-up, Vazquez didn’t give up a hit until Wells’ 14th homer.
“So far this year I have had good command of it,’’ Vazquez said of the pitch that had Blue Jay hitters off balance.
Because Vazquez started the season 1-4 and was skipped against the Red Sox in Boston, Girardi believes the veteran right-hander has bounced back.
“This shows me he is back on track,’’ Girardi said of his fifth starter. “This is the guy we thought we were getting. He is throwing the ball well and is comfortable.’’
