Ryan pours gasoline on Cecil's blaze

As the AL East arms race heats up the Jays seem to be melting down. Forced into an emergency start because of the shoulder injury to Scott Richmond, it was up to rookie left-hander Brett Cecil yesterday to give a beleaguered Blue Jay bullpen some needed rest. Instead, he lasted just 32/3 innings, allowing seven runs in a 10-8 defeat at the new Yankee Stadium. It was the Jays' third straight loss. "Sometimes it works for guys, sometimes it doesn't," Gaston said of Cecil's 20-hour advance notice of his start. "He kind of jumped in to fill in for us. Some guys pitch better when they don't know. Some guys need that time to think about it." After the game, Cecil was clearly looking for time to think about his failed fourth inning. He was given an 8-4 lead, but went back out and surrendered a three-run homer to Hideki Matsui. He left the clubhouse after the game and was unavailable for comment. "It's always tough when you have a four-run lead and couldn't manage to hold onto it," Gaston said. "Earlier in the year we probably would have held it." Another pitcher that also left the scene of the crime without comment was losing pitcher B.J. Ryan. The ex-closer relieved Cecil, nursing a one-run lead, but allowed a two-run blast to Derek Jeter that put Yankees up for good. Ryan's ERA climbed from 5.40 to 6.53. Ryan recorded two outs and gave up two walks and a homer. It was his first appearance in six days and just his 11th in the past 33 days. "We keep trying to find a spot to put him in there but it hasn't worked so far," Gaston explained. "I'm not sure what we're going to do. We might have to save him for some blowout games just to get him some time in there, some pitching time, so maybe he can get back to where he was last year." Jeter led off the game by ripping a one-hopper into the right field corner. After a walk and a single loaded the bases, first baseman Lyle Overbay let a ground ball by Matsui sneak through his legs. Aaron Hill retrieved the ball and threw out Mark Teixeira at the plate. Nick Swisher singled in the second run. In the second inning, Cecil continued to struggle, pitching like the guy that was 1-5 with a 5.69 ERA at Triple A before his promotion. With two out, Cecil loaded the bases. Posada singled home two more and Matsui walked to reload the bases. Cecil escaped that jam. The Jays fought back in the third, scoring three times against starter Joba Chamberlain. After Hill singled home Raul Chavez from third base, Adam Lind went deep for his 18th homer of the season. The Jays rallied to take the lead in the fourth on a barrage set up by a Cody Ransom error at third base, which was followed by a Chavez double to tie the game. With two outs, Scutaro singled home a pair, with Hill hitting a two-run homer to right to give the Jays the 8-4 lead. After Cecil coughed up three-quarters of that advantage in the fourth inning, he was relieved by Ryan. In the fifth inning, the struggling lefty walked Melky Cabrera and allowed a two-run homer to Jeter, handing the 9-8 advantage to the Yankees. After a walk to Damon, Ryan was removed. "He's having trouble throwing strikes," Gaston said. "I was just hoping that he could get us through another inning. We played 12 innings (on Saturday) and the bullpen's pretty beat up down there right now. And we got beat up more today. We were just trying to get him through an inning."