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Yanks clip Jays in nightcap to complete twinbill sweep

Aug 21, 2013 - 6:01 AM Bronx, NY (Sports Network) - Jayson Nix came up with a pair of clutch hits, the last a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning, as the New York Yankees completed a doubleheader sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 3-2 victory.

Nix had tied the game at 2-2 in his previous at-bat with a solo homer off Mark Buehrle in the seventh inning, and his one-out hit off Darren Oliver (3-4) in the ninth lifted the surging Yankees to their eighth win in 10 games and eighth straight in the season series with the Blue Jays.

"I feel like we've had a little bit of a jolt in our team," Nix said. "We're playing really well right now. It's a good time for it."

New York took the opener by an 8-4 count behind a 4-for-4, four-RBI performance from Robinson Cano that included a three-run homer.

Ichiro Suzuki, who recorded his 3,998th and 3,999th hits as a professional in game one, did not start the nightcap but scored the deciding run after entering as a pinch-runner in the ninth.

Cano added an RBI single while going 2-for-4 in the second game, while Austin Romine went 3-for-3 with a run scored for New York.

Rajai Davis had two hits and an RBI for the slumping Blue Jays, who have now dropped 11 consecutive games at Yankee Stadium dating back to last season. Munenori Kawasaki finished 2-for-3 with a triple and a run scored in the setback.

"If we can have a good record on those games, obviously we'd have a better chance," Buehrle said of the Blue Jays losing the close ones.

Oliver entered in the bottom of the ninth and promptly walked Mark Reynolds on four pitches before Eduardo Nunez moved Suzuki to second with a sacrifice. Suzuki then executed a daring but successful steal of third, and Nix followed with a hard single to left that easily brought him home.

Nix's hit made a winner out of Mariano Rivera (4-2), who worked around a pair of singles to hold Toronto scoreless in the top of the ninth.

Buehrle held New York to two runs on six hits over 6 2/3 effective innings, and appeared on his way to only his second win in 12 lifetime decisions against the Bronx Bombers. The veteran lefty continually kept the Yankee bats off balance while carrying a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh.

However, he hung a first-pitch cutter to Nix that was belted into the seats to erase the one-run edge.

Phil Hughes also pitched well for New York in a no-decision, but remained winless for an eighth straight start despite yielding two runs and striking out six over six frames.

Davis almost single-handedly sent the Blue Jays ahead in the opening inning. After beginning the game with a single, the speedy leadoff man stole second and advanced a base on a Maicer Izturis grounder before racing home when Hughes fired a slider in the dirt that got away from Romine.

New York pulled even in the bottom of the third, the only inning in which Buehrle encountered any significant trouble up until Nix's blast.

A single by Romine and a walk to Vernon Wells put two runners aboard for the red-hot Cano, who shot a two-out single to left center that knotted the score.

The Blue Jays went back in front in the fifth, with Kawasaki lacing a ball into the gap in right center and hustling his way to a triple. He subsequently scored on Davis' sacrifice fly to center.

Game Notes

Cano is now batting .571 (20-for-35) with eight RBI over his last nine games ... Toronto's Kevin Pillar collected his first major league hit, a single in the third inning, after going 0-for-17 following his call-up from Triple-A Buffalo ... Izturis exited the game after 5 1/2 innings after spraining his left ankle while running out a ground ball during a previous at-bat ... Hughes is 0-8 with two no-decisions in his last 10 home outings since besting Oakland at the Stadium on May 4 ... New York's Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and grounded into a double play in the eighth ... Toronto has now lost in 20 of its last 22 visits to the Bronx ... The Blue Jays placed All- Star outfielder Jose Bautista on the 15-day disabled list following the nightcap due to a hip injury the slugger aggravated in the first game.