Hiroki Kuroda shuts out Blue Jays to lower ERA to 1.99

NEW YORK (AP) — Hiroki Kuroda pitched two-hit ball for eight dominant innings and the New York Yankees again beat Mark Buehrle and the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-0 on Friday night.

The AL East-leading Yankees defeated last-place Toronto for the fifth straight time this season in New York and for the seventh time in eight games overall.

Kuroda (6-2) struck out five and walked one in cooling off a club that had scored 33 runs in its previous three games and had won a season-high four in a row.

The Yankees most consistent starter since the start of last season, Kuroda won for the fourth time in five starts. He is 2-0 in three starts against the Blue Jays this year — matching up each time against Buehrle — allowing four runs in 21 1-3 innings.

He gave up a leadoff double to Melky Cabrera and didn’t allow another hit until Edwin Encarnacion‘s one-out single in the seventh. Between the two hits, Kuroda faced the minimum, picking off Munenori Kawasaki after a third-inning walk.

via Hiroki Kuroda leads Yankees over Blue Jays.