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| Hiroki Kuroda pitches against the Blue Jays on Thursday. (Getty Images) |
The Yankees were able to take the opener of their four-game set with the Blue Jays on Thursday as they defeated them 5-3. Robinson Cano made the difference tonight as his three-run shot got the Yankees off and running and they didn't look back after that. Hiroki Kuroda was able to pick up his third win of the season, even though he struggled to start the game.
Kuroda allowed three runs on six hits in six innings of work. He struck out three batters and walked only one. Kuroda was a little shaky in the first couple of innings as he allowed two runs in the first and one run in the second, but he would regroup and finish his outing strong. He thew 103 pitches in the game and 65 of them were for strikes.
The Yankee bullpen did their part tonight in support of Kuroda. Joba Chamberlain worked a scoreless seventh inning, but he did surrender a hit. David Robertson would follow up with a scoreless eighth inning, which set up Mariano Rivera for the ninth inning.
Vernon Wells put the Yankees on the board in the second inning with his solo home run off of Mark Buehrle, who he has virtually owned in his career. Wells is 24-51 (.470) with three home runs and ten runs batted in.
The Yankees were given a boost in the third inning thanks to Robinson Cano, who launched a three-run shot to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead.
With a 4-3 lead, the Yankees weren't done. Francisco Cervelli decided to join the home run list as he launched a solo shot in the fourth inning.
Mariano Rivera came on in the ninth and earned his seventh save of his season.
The Yankees and Blue Jays will continue their four-game set tomorrow night.
