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Yanks, Nova go for series win against Jays

May 1, 2011 - 2:57 PM (Sports Network) - The New York Yankees shoot for a series win this afternoon when they play the rubber match of their three-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.

After leaving 11 men on base in Friday's series-opening loss, the Yankees bounced back on Saturday to post a 5-4 win.

A.J. Burnett (4-1) gave up four runs and nine hits over six innings, striking out four and walking none before handing the ball to the bullpen. Joba Chamberlain and Rafael Soriano tossed two scoreless innings and Mariano Rivera worked around Jose Molina's two-out double in the ninth to earn his ninth save.

No one on the Yankees scored more than once, and nobody had more than one hit, but they went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position and touched Toronto starter Kyle Drabek for all five of their runs and all seven of their hits.

"Obviously, crucial hits were big for us," said Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher.

Drabek (2-1) pitched just 2 1/3 innings, walking four and striking out four in the shortest outing of the 23-year-old's young career.

"I think there was some frustration out there with the zone command and maybe the strike zone at times, but that's part of being at this level," said Blue Jays manager John Farrell.

Hoping to pitch New York to the series win this afternoon will be young right- hander Ivan Nova, who is 1-2 with a 5.82 earned run average. Nova may have saved his spot in the rotation with his effort on Tuesday against Chicago, as he allowed a run and five hits in 6 1/3 innings, but did not factor in the decision of his team's 3-2 loss.

He had failed to make it through the fifth inning in two of his first four starts.

"Every one for me is important," Nova said. "I've just got to worry about doing my job and not worry about anything else. If I do my job, everything is going to be good."

Nova took the loss in a relief outing against the Jays back on April 19 and is 0-1 against them with a 5.06 ERA in three games (two starts).

Heading to the hill for the Blue Jays today will be right-hander Jesse Litsch, who is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA. Litsch picked up a win over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday, as he allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings.

Litsch, though, has struggled mightily against the Yankees in his career, going 1-4 with a 5.72 ERA in six starts.

The Yankees split a two game-set with the Blue Jays last week after Toronto took 10 of 18 in the series a year ago. The Jays were 4-5 in the Bronx in 2010.