NEW YORK – Breathe easy Toronto Blue Jays fans, Jose Bautista insists there's no need to get worked up about the neck stiffness that forced him from Sunday afternoon's 5-2 loss to the New York Yankees.
"I'll be ready for the next game, that's not going to be an issue," said the star slugger. "It's nothing major, just a tight neck."
With that out of the way, Bautista's absence was far from the tipping point in a loss that left the Blue Jays (13-15) a touch on the disappointed side as they travelled to Florida for the start of a three-game series with the surging Tampa Bay Rays.
Jesse Litsch, making his second start since returning from triple-A, gave his team six serviceable innings that would have looked a whole lot better had he not left one fat 3-2 fastball over the plate to Curtis Granderson in the fifth inning.
The centre-fielder skied the offering over the wall in right field for a three-run homer, capping a decisive four-run rally that allowed the Yankees (16-9) to take two of three from the visitors before a crowd of 43,363.
Litsch (2-2) battled his way through his outing, getting key double plays to escape trouble in the third and fourth, but knows he must work to fine-tune his location.
"I'm throwing the ball well, everything is coming out good, it's just I hate losing," said Litsch, who allowed three runs over six innings in a 10-3 win at Texas on Tuesday. "It kind of irks me losing here, trying to get back to .500, that doesn't help, it would have been a good series win.
"Personally I'm throwing the ball well, and I feel good, that's the main thing right now."
Ivan Nova (2-2) pitched into the seventh and while the Blue Jays had chances against him, he did enough to limit the damage. Dave Robertson, Boone Logan, Rafael Soriano and Mariano Rivera, pitching the ninth for his 10th save, held the fort from there.
A key stop came in the seventh, when the Blue Jays put two men on with two out after Bautista earned his second walk of the night. It was then manager John Farrell replaced his slugger with Corey Patterson, while the Yankees turned to lefty Boone Logan, who made a behind the back stab of Adam Lind's grounder to end the threat.
Bautista first felt the neck stiffness after an awkward night of sleep in Texas and it got progressively tighter during Sunday's play. It bothers him most while running and throwing, so he decided the smart move was to let someone run for him after reaching base.
"It's been bothering me for a couple of days and it just got really tight today," said Bautista. "I figured that was a good time to give someone else a shot of scoring from first with a double. I didn't know if I was going to be able to get up again, so, might as well … not be a little bit selfish and try to stay in the game when I can't run 100 per cent there."
Signs of his discomfort appeared earlier in the game, when after a walk in the fifth he took a very short lead from first, and on a soft throw in from the outfield during the pivotal fifth.
The Yankees opened the scoring on Mark Teixeira's solo shot in the first but the Blue Jays responded in the second when Lind knocked one off the foul pole in left-field for his fifth of the season.
They took a 2-1 lead in the third when Rajai Davis walked, stole second and third and then scored on Bautista's hard grounder to short.
But the Yankees got all they needed in the fifth, as Jorge Posada ended an 0-for-19 run with a leadoff double, moved up on Brett Gardner's single and scored on Francisco Cervelli's groundout.
On the next batter, Yunel Escobar fielded Derek Jeter's grounder to short and tried to gun down the speedy Gardner at third. But Gardner beat the throw leaving two runners on, and Granderson capitalized a few pitches later.
"That's just falling behind," said Litsch. "He's a good hitter, you're going to get got sometimes, it's just a matter of hoping it's not in a big situation. And that right there was a big situation, it got them ahead by three, and that's the way the game ended.
"That one pitch, that will ruin a game right there."
REYES ON THE CLOCK?: Jo-Jo Reyes will start Tuesday's series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays and Blue Jays manager John Farrell indicated that the left-hander is running out of chances to keep his spot in the rotation.
"I think it's an important one," Farrell said of the outing. "I think he would probably agree with that as well, he's a pretty aware young guy, he's understanding of the situation he's in. He would do himself and certainly us a world of good by going out and having a good game."
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MILESTONE MOMENT: David Cooper got a series of big-league firsts out of the way over the weekend, making his debut Friday, knocking in his run on a sacrifice fly Saturday and collecting his first two hits, both singles Sunday.
With that, the 24-year-old DH/first baseman feels like he has big-league legs under him.
"Definitely, it's not as nerve-wracking as the first day and the first AB was," he said. "Especially now that I've been to Yankee Stadium, I feel a little better about going forward.
"This is kind of the Mecca of baseball so to not only debut here but to get my first hit here is obviously something I'll never forget."
The other thing he won't forget is the growing sense that his approach at the plate and swing will play in the majors.
"Exactly," he said. "There are a few kinks and adjustments I've got to make, but every time you jump a level it's going to happen."
A bloop single to right in the second inning was his first hit, and he added another base hit in the fourth. Cooper got the ball from his first hit and plans to send it home to his father, Dean.
"My dad's been the biggest influence in my life," said Cooper.
SNIDER SMASH: Travis Snider made his debut with triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday night and went 4-for-4 with a double, a walk and an RBI.
Manager John Farrell was impressed with his line, but cautioned those who are expecting a speedy return to the majors for the outfielder.
"Obviously with the night he had, he's taking the right approach and really that's the one thing he can control at this point," said Farrell. "We made it very clear to Travis that it wasn't going to be just numbers or performance related, we wanted to see a little bit more direct swing path, not come out and around pitches as much as he showed here. That's not going to happen overnight."
Snider went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in Sunday's 9-3 win over Sacramento.
Lefty Brett Cecil made his second start since his demotion and allowed three runs on six hits and two walks, striking out five over 6.2 innings for the win.
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PROPS FOR BAUTISTA: Jose Bautista was the unanimous pick as Honda Blue Jays player of the month for April in voting by the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He batted .366 with nine homers, 15 RBIs, 28 walks and four stolen bases.
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