A week prior to this game, former Yankee David Wells took the ball and stymied his former club in the Bronx. The only blemish on his stat line was a solo home run from Derek Jeter in a game the Blue Jays won in extra innings. For his part, Wells tossed eight frames of nigh-scoreless ball.
Now, a week later, Wells got the ball and the call again, this time at the SkyDome in Toronto. His start had been pushed back due to a flare-up of gout, and that was ill luck for the Bronx Bombers — Wells was even
better this time around. His masterful complete game performance continued the Yankees’ collapse as the season wound to its conclusion.
September 21: Yankees 1, Blue Jays 3 (box score)
Record: 85-66, .563 (4.5 GA)
Wells wasn’t the only one who pitched well in this one. Orlando Hernández had the ball for the Yankees and, for the most part, did an excellent job holding the Blue Jays down. El Duque held them off the scoreboard through the first two frames before giving up a run-scoring double to put Toronto into the run column.
From there, he shut the Jays down until the sixth inning, when a solo home run by Carlos Delgado was part of a two-run Toronto frame. And the way Wells was pitching, three runs was going to be enough.
The Yankees did manage to avoid the shutout, thanks to a Bernie Williams leadoff home run in the seventh inning. But that was all the damage the Yanks could manage and when the smoke cleared, Wells had a complete game, his 20th win of the season (the first and only time he achieved that milestone in his long career, though he came close two seasons later back in pinstripes), and he’d brought the Blue Jays to within 4.5 games of the Yankees.
It’s fair to wonder whether Wells got himself extra amped up to face the Yankees, given the results of his last two starts. The New York Times certainly thought so. In his recap of this contest, Buster Olney wrote:
“David Wells is the relentless suitor and the Yankees are the first love who broke his heart, and when he struck out Glenallen Hill tonight to complete his 20th victory and drive the Yankees deeper into their ominous late-season slump, he lived in the moment.”
A week earlier, despite their loss to Wells and the Jays, the Yankees sat 84-60 and had a seemingly insurmountable lead.
One win in seven contests later and all of a sudden the Jays were disturbingly close, with Boston lurking behind them. With only 11 games remaining on the Yankees’ slate, you’d think New York was still safe. But when you’re 3-8 in your last 11, all sorts of evil thoughts come to mind. Perhaps the biggest saving grace for New York was that this loss wrapped up the season series against Toronto, and they’d already finished with Boston. Neither club would be able to make up ground quickly with head-to-head wins.
Regardless, in no small part thanks to their former teammate, the Yanks found themselves limping to the finish line, hoping to hold on.
