Ray Stubblebine/Reuters
Mark Teixeira hits a two-run home run in the first inning.
Yankees outfielder Dewayne Wise can think of one team in his career with a lineup that can compare with the team he now plays for. It was in 2005.
The Class AAA Toledo Mud Hens, a minor league affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, had a batting order that could really do some damage, he said. “One through nine, guys would just rake — it was stupid, man,” Wise said. “But to be on this level and have a lineup like this, it’s...”
His voice trailed off and he pointed to the Yankees’ lineup card for Wednesday’s game, a rain-shortened 6-0 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays that included 12 hits in six innings off the Blue Jays’ Ricky Romero.
“You look at this,” Wise said, the card in front of him. “It’s hard to find a lineup like that.”
For the 42nd consecutive game, the Yankees scored at least three runs, extending a franchise record. They reached the mark in 10 pitches Wednesday. Romero allowed a leadoff double to Derek Jeter, a run-scoring single to Nick Swisher and a two-run homer to Mark Teixeira and, fast as lightning, the Yankees were ignited. They added a fourth run on a singly by Andruw Jones before Romero could finish the first inning.
“We’ve had some big outputs, we’ve jumped on people early, we’ve come from behind late in games, we’ve tacked on, and it’s probably about as good as we’ve played,” Manager Joe Girardi said.
The game began in sweltering heat and choking humidity, but storm clouds persistently threatened overhead. Finally, in the seventh, the skies opened. The game was called after a 58-minute delay before the bottom of the seventh.
By then, the Yankees had done their damage. Wise added two run-scoring hits in the fourth and sixth to put them ahead, 6-0.
Starting in center field in place of Curtis Granderson, who was given the day off, Wise helped show the depth and ability of the Yankees’ roster with his contributions. Utility man Jayson Nix also was 2 for 3 in a spot start at shortstop, with Jeter starting as the designated hitter.
“That’s how you win,” Jeter said. “All the teams that I’ve been a part of that have won have gotten contributions from a lot of different guys.”
The only other team to score at least three runs in more consecutive games in the live-ball era was the 1994 Cleveland Indians, whose streak reached 48 games.
“We’ve gotten contributions from so many different people in this lineup,” Girardi said. “I think it wears on pitchers.”
Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda’s splitter was sharp, and his command with it was precise. Sixteen of his 21 outs were by strikeout or groundout. He did not issue a walk in seven shutout innings and has now held opponents scoreless in all four daytime starts this season.
“Over all I threw the splitter really well,” Kuroda said through an interpreter. “I tried to concentrate on keeping everything down.”
Kuroda had been shaky in his past two outings, allowing 11 earned runs in 13 innings after giving up only nine runs in his seven starts before that. He glided through Toronto’s banged-up lineup Wednesday.
On Monday, Toronto slugger Jose Bautista hurt his wrist on a swing. In the third inning Wednesday, third baseman Brett Lawrie was injured after leaping into the concrete-floored photographers’ well while going for a foul ball. He left the game, and X-rays on his right ankle were negative; he is day to day.
But the symbolism was fitting: Toronto limped out of town after receiving a battering in this three-game series. The Blue Jays were outscored, 19-4, and outhit, 30-17, in three losses.
“This was a rough three days here in New York,” Toronto Manager John Farrell said.
In Wise’s estimation, he has never played for an offense clicking as seamlessly as the Yankees are now. That Toledo squad — which featured a young Granderson playing center and which averaged 4.84 runs a game — was the only one comparable.
Granderson gave the nod to the minor league team. “This one’s close,” he said with a smile.
Both teams — the Mud Hens and the Yankees — had the best record in their league. It is no wonder why.
INSIDE PITCH
The Yankees recalled pitcher David Phelps and optioned reliever D. J. Mitchell to Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. ...With a double in the first, Robinson Cano extended his hitting streak to 21 games. ...The injured Yankee closer Mariano Rivera rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning.
the New York edition with the headline: Yankees Extend Hot Streak in Rain-Shortened Game.
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