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Kuroda, Yankees come back to beat Jays – Metro US

Kuroda, Yankees come back to beat Jays

Hiroki Kuroda’s night began with an ominous tone. He quickly fell behind, left a few pitches in areas of the plate he should not have and it appeared his outing would be a short one.

Then the Yankee bats realized they were facing Mark Buehrle, a pitcher for whatever reason they tend to hit hard.

The trend continued in last night’s 5-3 win over the Blue Jays.

Kuroda allowed three runs and six hits before completing two innings but he allowed nothing more as he picked up his third win of the season.

By the time he stopped allowing hits, Kuroda resembled the pitcher who allowed one run and eight hits over his previous 16 1/3 innings. After allowing a two-out double to Muenori Kawaski, he retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced.

Kuroda left the game with a lead because the Yankees knocked around Buehrle again. Buehrle fell to 0-7 in his last 10 starts and 1-9 in 14 career starts against the Yankees.

He gave up home runs to the two Yankees who seem to hit him the best as Vernon Wells and Robinson Cano connected in the early innings.

Wells improved to 24-for-48 lifetime off Buehrle with a solo home run leading off the first. Cano improved to 8-for-19 lifetime off the left-hander with a three-run home run with two outs in the third inning to give the Yankees the lead.

Francisco Cervelli also added a solo home run for his first hit in five career at-bats off Buehrle.

Follow Yankees beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.