Pennant Pursuit: Ben Revere leads Blue Jays to doubleheader sweep over Yankees

Alec Brzezinski

Pennant Pursuit: Ben Revere leads Blue Jays to doubleheader sweep over Yankees image

The Blue Jays flexed their muscles Saturday by defeating the Yankees in a doubleheader.

The first game was a power-filled 9-5 win for Toronto in 11 innings that saw seven home runs between the two teams. Jose Bautista went 2 for 3 with two home runs, three runs scored and three RBIs. Ben Revere and Edwin Encarnacion added two hits and a solo home run apiece.

The Yankees did some slugging of their own in Game 1, as Brett Gardner, Chase Headley and Alex Rodriguez all smashed home runs. New York gave up four runs in the top of the 11 inning, however, which proved to be the difference.

Game 2, on the other hand, was dominated early and often by the Blue Jays. Toronto put up six runs in the second inning, led by Cliff Pennington's two-run shot, but Revere stole the show with four hits, two runs, two RBIs and a stolen base.

Gardner hit two more home runs in Game 2 — giving him to three for the day — but it wasn't enough to save the Yankees from losing their fifth straight game and dropping to 4 1/2 games behind the Blue Jays in the AL East.

Star Performers:

AL:

Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz hit his 499th and 500th career home runs against the Rays. He became just the 27th player in MLB history to reach 500 home runs and the seventh since 2007. He finished the game 3 for 4 with two home runs and four RBIs to help Boston to a 10-4 win.

Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas went 3 for 5 with two home runs and nine RBIs in a 14-6 win against the Orioles. His nine RBIs set a Royals record for one game.

NL:

Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez struck out seven batters in five scoreless innings in a 2-0 win against the Nationals. Fernandez improved to 16-0 with a 1.11 ERA and 190 strikeouts in 162.2 innings at home in his career.

Pirates third baseman Josh Harrison went 4 for 4 with two runs scored and a walk in a 10-2 win over the Brewers. Pittsburgh is just 2 1/2 games behind the Cardinals, who lost twice to the Reds, in the NL Central.

Madison Bumgarner carried a perfect game into the eighth inning, but lost it on a Melvin Upton Jr. single with two outs in the inning. Still, Bumgarner tossed a complete-game, one-hit shutout in an 8-0 win against the Padres.

Plays of the Day:

"Big Papi" hits his 500th home run:

Twins phenom Byron Buxton laid out to make an amazing catch:

Dodgers rookie Corey Seager hits his first-career home run:

A Look Ahead: (All times Eastern)

Blue Jays (82-60) at Yankees (77-64) 1:05 p.m.: The Yankees are in desperate need of a win if they have any aspirations of winning the AL East. New York gets a boost by sending ace Masahiro Tanaka (11-6, 3.57 ERA) to the mound to face R.A. Dickey (10-10, 4.01 ERA) and the red-hot Blue Jays.

Reactions:

"What can I tell you? It's a number where it's very hard to get and I've been competing and trying to get things done the right way through the years," Ortiz said via MLB.com about his 500th homer. "All the names that you mention that are in the 500 club are legends, so to be part of it is an honor and I'm going to enjoy it."

"That's what our offense does, they score runs and today was a perfect example of that," Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada said after Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader against the Yankees via MLB.com . "We put it all together. I obviously didn't do a great job today, gave up a couple of home runs that cost me and I felt pretty good, but besides the fact that we pulled it off, it was a huge win, we needed it and I'm just glad we won."

Alec Brzezinski