NEW YORK -- The steady upwards development path Kyle Drabek has been on so far this season took its first real dip Saturday afternoon, with the shortest outing of his very young career.
The electric right-hander struggled with both his command and his emotions in a 5-4 loss to A.J. Burnett and the New York Yankees. Drabek (2-1) lasted just 2.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and four walks, occasionally muttering on the mound and stabbing at return throws from catcher Jose Molina.
The 23-year-old pitched at least five innings in each of his first eight big-league starts before getting roughed up in front of a crowd of 42,460 at Yankee Stadium. He seemed to struggle with home plate umpire Wally Bell's strike zone, never found a groove, and left trailing 5-2.
"I think there was some frustration out there, probably with the zone command, and maybe the strike zone at times," said manager John Farrell. "Still, that's part of being at this level, controlling emotions and still executing pitch to pitch.
"Once something happens, how he reacts, how any pitcher reacts, is the most important thing."
The loss was the first in a game Drabek has started this season for the Blue Jays (13-14), who also missed an opportunity to finish the season's opening month with a winning record despite a fluctuating roster caused by injuries and underperformance.
"Fastball just seemed to miss the whole time, I only threw a few curveballs and they were both hit and I just couldn't get my cutter down," said Drabek, who brushed off questions about Bell's strike zone. "It's going to happen, it's just one of those days when things didn't go well."
Helped along by 5 2-3 hitless innings from Jason Frasor, Shawn Camp, Mark Rzepczynski and Frank Francisco, the Blue Jays scratched and clawed their way within a run against a mediocre Burnett (4-1) but were shut down by the bullpen of the Yankees (15-9).
Mariano Rivera, who blew a save in Toronto last week, handled the ninth for his ninth save, stranding Molina's two-out double.
The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the first when Yunel Escobar cashed in Rajai Davis's triple with a groundout, then Drabek gave it all back and more in the second on Canadian Russell Martin's RBI single, Derek Jeter's sacrifice fly, and Curtis Granderson's run-scoring single.
After Adam Lind's sacrifice fly in the top of the third made it a one-run game, the Yankees went up 5-2 in the bottom half on RBI singles by Eric Chavez and Brett Gardner. Drabek left the bases loaded with one out for Jason Frasor, who avoided further trouble.
Mike McCoy hit his first career homer leading off the fifth while David Cooper earned his first career RBI on a sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it 5-4, but the Jays got no closer. The chance for more in the sixth slipped away when the Blue Jays gambled on a two-strike breaking ball from Burnett and watched Edwin Encarnacion take strike three looking and Juan Rivera get thrown out trying to steal third.
McCoy made a tremendous defensive play in the seventh, ranging far out into right field to make a basket catch on Nick Swisher's flare and doubling off Robinson Cano at first.
"I take a lot of pride in my defence, it's one of the things that's gotten me to the big-leagues so I love that, but you can't give back the homer," McCoy said when asked which play he took more pride in. "I think it was pretty cool and to do it here is a pretty special moment."
As is customary, Yankee fans threw the ball back and it was returned to McCoy.
The Blue Jays stole three more bases to finish April with 30, breaking the old team record of 27 set in 1983 and matched in '84. It's their most swipes in a month since bagging 30 in August 2001.
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EVERYDAY EDWIN: The Blue Jays offered Edwin Encarnacion some encouragement after he made his sixth error of the season in Friday night's 5-3 win and then showed some faith in the third baseman by putting him right back out there in Saturday's lineup.
For now his adventures in throwing will not alter manager John Farrell's plan to keep using him at third, the only spot to play him under the current roster set-up.
"He was upset (after the error), he knew there was at least one out to be had, if not more, and you do what you can to wipe the slate clean," said Farrell.
"As far as the fundamental side of it, there's always been the issue where he'll lead with his elbow or the hand will get onside of the baseball and cause a little bit of a running action, but it all comes down to his footwork. When his footwork is on time, it allows the arm to find its normal slot and generate a throw that carries with some accuracy."
A streaky hitter, Encarnacion was rolling at the plate before some wrist soreness forced him to take four games off. He returned to the lineup Wednesday but hasn't found his groove yet.
"He was deep into a hot streak when the wrist flared up on him," said Farrell. "The interruption there affects his timing, and we have to ride those ups and downs and make sure he's back in the lineup to get him back on the upswing."
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ROSTER SPLIT: Manager John Farrell didn't outright say it, but it sounds like the Blue Jays will demote one of their eight relievers to make room for one of second baseman Aaron Hill or infielder Jayson Nix when they're ready to come off the disabled list.
Hill is eligible for activation on May 5 and Nix on May 8, although they may need more time. The Jays have been carrying 13 pitchers and 12 position players since April 12 because of inconsistencies in their starting rotation.
They would like to get things stabilized enough to switch the ratio to 13 players and 12 pitchers.
"I think we're getting close to that," said Farrell. "Quite frankly, as Aaron and Jayson get near to their return, that's our goal, is to get back to that to give us a little more depth on the bench, give us more flexibility on that side of things."
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CLOSING TIME: Reliever Jon Rauch has been impressive 5-for-5 in save opportunities so far this season but fellow right-hander Frank Francisco will remain in the mix to close out games.
"I would say you have two closers," said Farrell. "At this point, all things being equal, we would go to Jon because he is what he's been in the late innings. But if there was a lineup we felt Frankie was a better matchup, we would have no hesitation."
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