By HOWIE RUMBERG
AP Sports Writer
Associated Press Sports
updated 4:23 p.m. ET July 18, 2012
NEW YORK (AP) - Hiroki Kuroda pitched four-hit ball, Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer in a four-run first inning and the New York Yankees completed a thorough sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 6-0, rain-shortened victory Wednesday.
The game was called after a 58-minute rain delay before the Yankees could come to bat in the seventh.
Nick Swisher and Andruw Jones each had run-scoring hits in the first, and Dewayne Wise had two RBIs in a rare start for New York. The Yankees handed Ricky Romero his career-worst fifth straight loss and beat Toronto for the eighth straight time in the Bronx.
The Blue Jays not only are leaving town two games under .500 for the first time this season, they will be limping into Boston with two injuries. Brett Lawrie bruised his right calf flipping over a railing trying to catch a foul pop in the third inning. All-Star slugger Jose Bautista strained his wrist on a swing Monday night and was put on the 15-day disabled list.
Lawrie slammed his right leg onto an unpadded railing inside a camera well while somersaulting over the cushioned railing separating the deep well from the field next to the Toronto dugout. The 22-year-old tried standing up but immediately went down after putting weight on his leg. Several members of the Blue Jays' staff ran from the dugout to assist Lawrie.
X-rays were negative and he is day to day.
Blue Jays manager John Farrell saw this series as a chance help define the Blue Jays' season. Well, the Yankees outscored Toronto 18-4 and outhomered their AL East rival 4-1.
Headed to Oakland immediately following the game for the start of a six-game trip that begins Thursday, the Yankees wasted no time after a 51-minute delay at the start caused by some dramatic lightning and booming thunder - but no rain.
Jeter led off the first with a double, the first of the four extra-base hits in the inning. Nick Swisher had an RBI single, Teixeira followed with his 19th homer, a two-run shot. With one out, Robinson and Jones had consecutive doubles to make it 4-0.
Wise had an RBI double in the fourth and a run-scoring single in the sixth off Romero. He started in center field, giving Curtis Granderson a day off. Granderson had started 89 of New York's first 90 games.
Kuroda (9-7), meanwhile, allowed a single hit in each of the second, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. He struck out the side in the second.
It was an encouraging outing for Kuroda after he was shelled in his previous two starts, 11 earned runs over 13 innings as his ERA rose from 3.16 to 3.67.
Romero (8-6) appeared to be emerging from a slump. He had yielded just three runs in 12 innings over last two starts after allowing 16 runs in the two starts before that. But he gave up six runs and 12 hits in six innings this time. The losing streak follows a stretch where he lost only once in 15 outings.
NOTES: Injured Yankees closer Mariano Rivera rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning. ... Several members of the Wounded Warrior Project rode hand-pedaled bicycles onto the field before the game as part of the Soldier Ride. Swisher greeted the injured troops and fans gave them a warm ovation. ... Former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa delivered Colby Rasmus' World Series ring to the stadium Wednesday morning, but Rasmus was too busy to meet with La Russa. Rasmus was with the Cardinals last year until he was traded to Toronto July 27 as part of a three-team trade. The Cardinals went on to win the championship and La Russa retired. The relationship between Rasmus and La Russa deteriorated last year before the trade. But Rasmus said he didn't meet La Russa on Wednesday because he was too busy with family in town and pregame preparations.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/48232348/ns/sports-baseball/
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