Schadenfreude 115 (A Continuing Series)

Mark Feinsand, Daily News:

[Bartolo] Colon put the Yankees in a huge hole in the first inning, recording only two outs before leaving with a seven-run deficit. The Bombers battled back before dropping a 16-7 decision to the Blue Jays to open the four-game series at Rogers Centre. ...

The 38-year-old allowed eight runs, though only three were earned ... Colon gave up six hits and walked two, throwing 42 mostly ineffective pitches before being pulled. ... The loss dropped the Yankees 1½ games behind the idle Red Sox in the American League East.

Toronto set season highs in runs (16) and hits (20). It was only the 29th game in Blue Jays history in which the team had 20+ hits and the 24th time they have scored 16+ runs. In each category, the Yankees have been the victims five times, the most of any opponent. The eight first-inning runs matched a franchise-high for the Blue Jays, who scored eight in the first inning on September 26, 2007, at Baltimore.

Alden Gonzalez, MLB.com:

Will the Yankees stay in prime position for a playoff spot with Eduardo Nunez manning third base while Alex Rodriguez is out?

Those issues came to the forefront during a long, adventurous and frustrating first inning ... [which] was prolonged when Nunez -- who has said he's more comfortable at shortstop than third base -- misplayed a J.P. Arencibia chopper for an error. In the second, Nunez missed a popup from Adam Lind that was scored a double.

MLB.com:

[Derek Jeter] dismissed a FOXSports.com story that attributed anonymous sources in reporting that Jeter missed the All-Star Game because of "emotional and physical exhaustion" from his pursuit of 3,000 hits, saying that the calf was the sole reason he stayed away. ...

The following day [after saying he would skip the ASG] he looked healthy while hitting a homer for his 3,000th hit and capping the day 5-for-5.

Mark Feinsand, Daily News:

Hold off on those Cooperstown plans for Gary Sanchez. The Yankees' 18-year-old catching prospect was told to leave the team's Low-A affiliate in Charleston, sent back to Tampa for what one source termed "attitude problems."

Sanchez [considered by many to be the Bombers' best all-around hitting prospect] ... had apparently become a malcontent after getting off to a slow start this season ... Sanchez, who is hitting .238 with four home runs and 21 RBI in 32 games this season ... declined to enter a game as a replacement, then refused to catch a pitcher in the bullpen ... prompting his banishment from the club.