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Blue Jays' Buehrle beats Yankees for first time since 2004

Dan Hamilton / USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

When Mark Buehrle arrived at Rogers Centre on Wednesday, his résumé contained as many perfect games as it did victories against the New York Yankees.

Buehrle's lone career win against the Yankees came back in April of 2004, when the young left-hander tossed eight pristine innings in the Bronx - against a lineup comprised of names like Bernie Williams, Gary Sheffield and Ruben Sierra - to lift his Chicago White Sox to a 7-3 win.

Over the ensuing 11 years, though, Buehrle's futility against the Yankees became almost legendary, as the soft-throwing southpaw came up winless in each of his 17 starts against New York following that lone victory back in 2004.

Date Tm Rslt Decision IP R Game Score
4/20/2004 CHW L 8-11 L 2 8 7
7/15/2006 CHW L 3-14 L 3 8 12
6/5/2007 CHW L 3-7 L 6 5 31
9/15/2008 CHW L 2-4 ND 6 2 58
8/2/2009 CHW L 5-8 L 4.1 7 10
8/28/2009 CHW L 2-5 ND 6 2 47
5/2/2010 CHW L 3-12 L 4.2 5 26
4/27/2011 CHW L 1-3 L 7 3 56
4/20/2013 TOR L 3-5 ND 7 3 59
4/25/2013 TOR L 3-5 L 5.1 5 37
5/17/2013 TOR L 0-5 L 6 5 41
2013-08-20 (2) TOR L 2-3 ND 6.2 2 58
6/18/2014 TOR L 3-7 L 6 3 52
6/24/2014 TOR W 7-6 ND 6.2 4 45
7/25/2014 TOR L 4-6 L 3 6 18
8/29/2014 TOR L 3-6 L 6 4 45
9/19/2014 TOR L 3-5 L 6 5 37

Before he headed home from work Wednesday night, though, Buehrle finally exorcised the demons that tortured him for more than decade.

Making his sixth start of the season for the Toronto Blue Jays, he allowed just one run over five innings, navigating out of several jams while notching five strikeouts to help his club to a 5-1 win.

Buehrle didn't just improve his dubious track record against the Yankees on Wednesday evening, he also enjoyed what was perhaps his best start of the season. Though he was removed from the game after just 77 pitches, Buehrle did not allow a home run over five innings - he allowed at least one homer in four of his previous five starts - and recorded nine of his 15 outs with ground balls.

So how does Wednesday's win compare to that victorious 2004 outing against Yankees?

"I don’t remember anything about it," Buehrle told Sportsnet's Arden Zwelling. "I can’t remember what happened last week."

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