NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays rookie David Cooper hadn't managed a hit in his first seven tries, so his mother, sister and girlfriend decided to shake things up.
They changed their seating pattern at Yankee Stadium and, presto, success.
The young designated hitter came through with his first career hit in the second inning Sunday, then added another in the fourth and a walk in the eighth, providing a few highlights for Toronto in a 5-2 loss to the New York Yankees.
"It was great, something I've been wanting to do the first couple of games," Cooper said. "It felt good, kind of get the monkey off my back, so to speak."
When the souvenir ball from his first hit made its way back to the Blue Jays dugout, the person who caught it pretended he was going to flip it into the stands.
"This is kind of the Mecca of baseball," Cooper said. "Not only being here, but getting my first hit here is, obviously, something I will never forget."
The Blue Jays can forget about the rest of the game, though.
Curtis Granderson hit a three-run homer and Mark Teixeira also went deep as the Yankees took the final two games from Toronto to remain unbeaten (5-0-1) in home series.
Jorge Posada broke out of an 0-for-19 slump and Francisco Cervelli added an RBI groundout in his first game back from the disabled list, while Ivan Nova (2-2) pieced together his second straight positive outing by allowing two runs on six hits over 5 1-3 innings.
Mariano Rivera worked a perfect ninth inning for his 10th save.
"I hate losing," said Blue Jays starter Jesse Litsch (2-2), who has done plenty of it against the Yankees. He allowed five runs on six hits while losing for the fourth straight time against New York, his record against the boys in pinstripes falling to 1-5 in seven starts.
Adam Lind hit a solo homer and Rajai Davis swiped three bases for Toronto.
Teixeira got to their burly right-hander early, driving a pitch over the right-field wall for his third first-inning homer of the season and seventh overall.
Lind answered with his homer in the second inning, and Toronto pulled ahead in the third, when Davis drew a leadoff walk, then played cat-and-mouse on the basepaths to swipe second and third. He eventually scored on Jose Bautista's groundout.
Nova settled down after that, and the Yankees gave him four more runs in the fifth.
Posada doubled to right field to snap his bedeviling slump, and Brett Gardner followed with a single to right, before Cervelli's run-scoring groundout tied the game.
Derek Jeter reached on a fielder's choice moments later, when he grounded to Yunel Escobar and the shortstop tried to cut down Gardner at third base. His throw was high and Gardner was able to slide in safe, putting runners on the corners. Granderson followed with a high fly ball that kept carrying over the right-field wall, his eighth homer of the season.
"Just one of those things, it was first and third and you're trying to get the runner home," Granderson said. "I was able to get one out."
The Blue Jays put a pair of runners on in the seventh, but reliever Boone Logan made a nifty behind-the-back grab on a sharp groundball by Lind and threw him out to end the threat.
Toronto stranded nine on base, at least one every inning except the first and last.
NOTES: Bautista left the game in the seventh inning with neck tightness. "He felt fine swinging the bat. It was more throwing and running," Farrell said. "It was more precautionary than anything to get him out of there." ... Yankees RHP Phil Hughes plans to see a specialist in St. Louis on Monday to determine whether he has thoracic outlet syndrome, a rare circulatory disorder that could be causing his pronounced drop in velocity. He's been on the DL with what the team has called a "dead arm."
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