Wallace Matthews, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Rapid Reaction: Blue Jays 2, Yankees 0

TORONTO -- A good effort on Friday, a non-effort on Saturday.

That is what mediocre teams are all about.

Once again, the Yankees were all about being a mediocre team in Saturday's 2-0 loss to the Blue Jays. Once again, they wasted a fine pitching performance. And once again, they made a second-tier starter look like Cy Young.

Worst of all, after having scored six runs Friday night and 16 over their past three games -- but admittedly, 13 of those came in two big innings separated by 21 scoreless innings in between -- the Yankees were shutout for the sixth time this season and managed just one hit all day, a fourth-inning double. They were struck out 12 times.

The good news? The Detroit Tigers, one of the teams they are pursuing in the race for the last seat on the postseason express, lost to the White Sox, so they lost no ground there. But the Baltimore Orioles, who lead them by seven games in the AL East, had yet to play. Same story for the Seattle Mariners, who lead them by two games.

Bat's all, folks: With two out in the bottom of the first, Michael Pineda hung an 0-2 slider to Jose Bautista and that was all she wrote, as they say. Joey Bats belted it off the facing of the second deck in left with a runner on to give the Jays a 2-0 lead. It was his second homer in two games and No. 28 for the season., giving him the team lead over Edwin Encarnacion (27). Incredibly, that was all the Jays would need to win this game.

Good enough to lose: Aside from his one mistake to Bautista, Pineda was excellent once again, allowing seven hits but only the two runs, which incredibly matches his season high for runs allowed in his eight starts so far. Pineda's ERA did edge up slightly, from 1.95 to 2.09.

Sad but Drew: The Yankees struggled mightily against Jays starter Drew Hutchison, a pitcher they had already beaten three out of the four times they faced him this season. Hutchison, who came in with a 7.08 ERA against the Yankees in 2014 (6.46 at the Rogers Centre and 5.81 for his career) held them hitless into the fourth inning, when Mark Teixeira lined a two-out double with Carlos Beltran (hit by pitch) aboard. Hutchison then hit Brian McCann to load the bases, but all three were stranded when Martin Prado flied out to center. Hutchison needed just 10 pitches to retire the Yankees in the first, nine pitches in the second, and 12 in the third, and had nine strikeouts in seven innings of one-hit ball.

Stallion: Shawn Kelley, whose horse's head mask failed him the other night, returned with a vengeance Saturday, entering the game with runners on second and third and none out, and somehow escaped without allowing a run. He fanned Danny Valencia, got Kevin Pillar to ground out to Jeter with the infield in, and retired Jose Reyes on a harmless fly to center.

Tomorrow: Series and road-trip finale matches Brandon McCarthy (5-3, 2.47) and LHP J.A. Happ (8-8, 4.40), first pitch at 1:07 p.m.

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