Manoah’s start, Bird’s eighth-inning blast help Blue Jays hang on to beat Yankees 10-9

Greg Bird hit a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning to help the Toronto Blue Jays hold on for a 10-9 win against the New York Yankees Saturday afternoon in Grapefruit League play in Tampa, Fla.

Alek Manoah got the start for the Blue Jays (5-3), surrendering no runs on two hits and striking out three over the 3 1/3 innings he pitched.

The Jays jumped on Yankees (2-6) starter Michael King early as he lasted only 2 2/3 innings giving up three earned runs and four hits.

Toronto outfielder Josh Palacios got things going for the Blue Jays connecting on a two-run homer to right fieldin the top of the second inning. Then, just an inning later, Craig Biggio made it 3-0 with a solo shot of his own to right.

The Yankees would storm back on a pair of big flies of their own when Giancarlo Stanton drilled one to centre in the bottom of the fourth, followed up by a three-run bomb from Joey Gallo to right in the bottom of the sixth.

Blue Jays pitcher Nate Pearson was accredited with the win, improving to 2-0 in the spring, but he gave up the three-run homer to Gallo in the sixth inning as part of his 2 1/3 inning stint Saturday.

Toronto did manage to regain its lead and more in the seventh inning when Orelvis Martinez, one of the organization’s top prospects, doubled to left, driving in two run to give the Blue Jays a 5-4 lead.

This sparked a rally from the Jays, who ended up adding three more runs before the top half of the inning was over with timely hitting and taking advantage of a wild pitch from Yankees pitche Reggie McClain.

In the top of the eighth inning, Bird hammered his second home run of the spring to right field to give the Blue Jays a 10-4 lead.

The extra cushion Bird’s blast provided was needed as the Yankees exploded in the bottom half of the eighth with Rob Brantly connecting on a three-run homer followed by an Ender Inciarte RBI single to pull New York to within 10-8.

In the bottom of the ninth Miguel Andujar cut the lead to 10-9 with home run of his own, but that was as close as things would get as Andrew Vasquez shut the door afterwards, picking up his first save of the spring for the Jays.