Sept. 9, 1977 – Yankees 2, Blue Jays 0
- Sal Maiorana
- Sep 9, 2017
- 2 min read
NEW YORK – On a rainy, windy night in the Bronx, during which they basically yawned their way to victory over the expansion Blue Jays, the Yankees actually lost ground in the AL East as Boston swept a doubleheader from Detroit to get within three games.
Not ideal, but as Roy White said, the most important thing was the Yankees took care of their own business. “Time becomes a pretty big factor now,” said White. “As long as we keep winning, there isn’t much they can do.”
The Yankees gave a hearty pat on the back to Mike Torrez as he pitched a three-hit shutout against the punch-less Jays who fell 46 games below .500. Toronto managed to get just one runner into scoring position, and Torrez retired 18 of the last 19 batters he faced. “I wanted to have an easy game,” said Torrez, knowing his next start against the Red Sox probably wasn’t going to be all that easy. “You can’t help but look ahead. The Boston games will be a fun series. That’s what it’s all about.”
The only scoring came when Cliff Johnson homered off Jerry Garvin in the second, and Chris Chambliss’ RBI single after Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson opened the sixth with a single and a walk. It was too bad for Garvin because he pitched very well, too, allowing just five hits, though not good enough to prevent his 15th loss of the year.
Jackson claimed a little bit of an assist on Johnson’s homer. After he struck out on a slow curveball, he walked past Johnson in the on-deck circle and passed on some advice. “I told him to get up close because Garvin wasn’t overpowering anybody. It looked like he took my advice, but I didn’t.”
Johnson was far more impressed with Torrez than he was with his home run, which was his 10th since joining the team on June 15.
“Anyone who has the command over his pitches that Torrez had tonight can beat anybody,” said Johnson, who caught while Munson served as DH. “He was just as strong late in the game as in the beginning.”
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