TORONTO – As the first ovation faded, David Price set to work against the Yankees. They made him work. It was a gruelling first inning. And there were more like that to come.
He pitched as if scripting a thriller, holding nearly 47,000 fans in the palm of his big left hand. By turns, they were edgy and elated, roaring one minute and catching their breath in their throats the next, willing him to do their bidding and raining raucous affection upon him when he obliged.
This was the kind of fan adoration long absent from Blue Jays lore. Price pitches only every five days or so, so he cannot be a single-handed saviour, but this is how the Jays’ besotted fans are treating him, and given his transparent passion for the cause on and off the field, it is hard to blame them.
The record will show that in his third start for the Blue Jays, he was not a winner. He laboured with exceptional valour through 7 1/3 innings, yielding 11 hits, squirming out of every jam except the last one, and leaving with a 3-1 lead. But the two runners he left on base scored when Aaron Sanchez gave up a three-run homer to pinch-hitter Carlos Beltran.
The Jays lost 4-3, their win streak finished at 11, their stay in first place done in a day, at least for the moment. At least until after they play the Yankees again on Saturday.
The drama, taut all night, peaked at the end. In the bottom of the ninth, with the crowd on its feet and chanting “Tu-lo,” the Jays put runners on second and third with two outs. But Troy Tulowitzki, facing Yankees closer Andrew Miller, swung and missed the 12th pitch of the at-bat. He had fouled off seven pitches.