So October, we’ll meet again.
Felt like an eternity huh? Well it was worth the wait.

While many fans were getting impatient and doubting, true fans knew that the Yankees will clinch in any way or form.

CC Sabathia strapped the Yankees on his back and provided the deep
pitching performance they’ve been needing, helping lead his team to a
6-1 victory over the Blue Jays that clinched the club’s 15th playoff
berth in the last 16 years.

It took Mariano Rivera to do it, but the Yankees have beaten the Blue Jays and clinched a spot in the postseason.

Struggling Yanks (11-14 for month) fall to Jays, denied chance to clinch playoff berth

Toronto – On the brink of the playoffs, A.J. Burnett and the New York Yankees can’t seem to stop stumbling.

Vernon
Wells hit a three-run homer, John Buck added a solo shot and the
Toronto Blue Jays pounded Burnett, then held on for a 7-5 victory over
the Yankees on Monday night.

“He got hit hard tonight, there’s no doubt about it,” manager Joe Girardi said of Burnett.

Toronto
won its fifth straight, assured itself of at least a .500 finish and
temporarily denied the Yankees the chance to clinch a playoff berth.
Boston’s 6-1 road win over the Chicago White Sox ensured New York would
have to wait at least another day.

Mark Teixeira hit a three-run
homer and Curtis Granderson added a two-run drive for the Yankees, who
have lost five of six and are 11-14 in September.

“Hopefully it
means we’re getting it out of our system,” Teixeira said of New York’s
September swoon. “We haven’t played good baseball. That’s starters,
that’s offense, defense, it’s everything. Let’s get this out of our
system and hopefully we do make the playoffs and have a chance to win a
World Series.”

Asked whether Burnett (10-15) could be counted on to pitch in the playoffs, Girardi refused to answer.

“I’m
not going to talk a whole lot about playoffs until we know we’re in,”
Girardi said. “You’ve got to get there first and we’re not there.”

Burnett said his struggles haven’t dented his appetite for postseason baseball.

“I expect to start in the postseason,” he said. “I just want the ball.”

The Blue Jays lead the major leagues with 243 home runs this season, one shy of the team record set in 2000.

Toronto
left-hander Marc Rzepczynski (3-4) allowed two runs and four hits in
five innings to win consecutive starts for the first time this season.
He walked three and matched a career-high with nine strikeouts.

“I
felt like that was the best I’ve thrown the ball all year,” Rzepczynski
said. “I had slider, fastball, was getting ahead and able to expand
after that.”

Brian Tallet pitched 1 1-3 innings, Josh Roenicke and
Jesse Carlson each got one out, Scott Downs worked the eighth and Kevin
Gregg closed it out for his 36th save in 41 chances.

“That was a
big game for us,” Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said. “No matter what
happens the rest of the way out, this team has done a great job this
year.”

Burnett, who has lost seven of his past 11 starts, allowed
seven runs and seven hits in 2 1-3 innings, his second-shortest start of
the year. The right-hander, who walked one and struck out one, is 0-3
with a 9.61 ERA in four starts against his former team this season.

“You can’t live in the middle of the plate and that’s what I did,” Burnett said. “I fell behind every hitter.

“Even
the outs I got were hard-hit balls,” added Burnett, the first Yankees
pitcher to lose 15 games in a season since Melido Perez went 13-16 in
1992.

Jose Bautista opened the scoring with an RBI groundout in
the first and Buck doubled the advantage with a leadoff homer to left in
the second, his career-high 19th, before the Blue Jays chased Burnett
with a five-run third.

Travis Snider walked to open the inning and
Yunel Escobar was hit, putting runners at first and second. Bautista
flied out, but Wells followed with a first-pitch drive to left for his
31st homer.

Lyle Overbay doubled and scored on Buck’s single to
center and Burnett was yanked after Adam Lind singled through the right
side.

Jonathan Albaladejo came on and gave up a sacrifice fly to Edwin Encarnacion, then got John McDonald to fly out.

Granderson
homered into the second deck in right off Rzepczynski in the fifth, his
24th of the season, and Teixeira chased Tallet with a one-out blast to
center in the seventh for his 33rd of the year.

Rzepczynski
recorded eight consecutive outs by strikeouts between the first and
fourth innings, a streak that started when Alex Rodriguez fanned to end
the first. Robinson Cano struck out to start the second and, after
singles by Marcus Thames and Austin Kearns, Rzepczynski struck out
Granderson and Francisco Cervelli.

Rzepczynski struck out the side
in the third, setting down Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher and Teixeira, then
fanned Rodriguez again to open the fourth.

“We’ve faced him a few
times this year and I’ve never seen him that good,” Teixeira said. “His
ball was moving everywhere. It’s like swinging at a ghost out there.
You didn’t know what it was going to do.”

The streak ended when Cano flied out to right. Thames then struck out to end the inning.

By striking out six straight batters, Rzepczynski matched Ted Lilly’s team record set Aug. 23, 2004, against Boston.

NOTES:
Yankees catcher Jorge Posada said closer Mariano Rivera needs to vary
his rhythm and be quicker to the plate to avoid a repeat of Sunday’s
game against Boston, in which Rivera allowed four stolen bases in the
ninth inning. Rivera, who has blown saves in three of his past six
appearances, worked on his mechanics before the game with pitching coach
Dave Eiland. … Blue Jays 2B Aaron Hill, stuck in a 2-for-22 slump,
was held out of the starting lineup and replaced by McDonald.