Blue Jays rally in 9th, hold wild-card lead, beat Yankees
TORONTO—Ezequiel Carrera drove in the tying run with a squeeze bunt in the ninth inning, Edwin Encarnacion hit a winning single and the Toronto Blue Jays held their AL wild-card lead, rallying past the New York Yankees 4-3 Sunday.
Toronto leads Baltimore by 1½ games for the top AL wild-card spot. The Blue Jays have won a team-record eight straight at home against the Yankees.
New York ended its 33-inning scoreless streak, but lost for the 11th time in 14 games.
After the Yankees scored twice in the ninth off closer Roberto Osuna (3-2) for a 3-2 lead, the Blue Jays bounced back.
Dellin Betances walked Melvin Upton Jr. to begin the bottom of the ninth and took third when Kevin Pillar singled off Tyler Clippard (3-6). Carrera followed with a squeeze bunt, and both runners advanced as Clippard's attempted scoop sent the ball rolling past catcher Gary Sanchez toward the backstop.
Clippard struck out Devon Travis before Josh Donaldson was intentionally walked to load the bases. Encarnacion's slow roller between first and second scored the winning run.
Toronto took a 2-1 lead on Jose Bautista's RBI single off Betances in the eighth. The Yankees moved ahead in the ninth when Mason Williams singled home the tying run and Ronald Torreyes followed with a sacrifice fly.
Bautista finished 2 for 2 with two walks and two RBIs, and has reached safely in a season-best 32 straight games. His fourth-inning homer off Michael Pineda was his second in two games.
After being held scoreless in their previous three games, New York loaded the bases with one out in the second but Marco Estrada struck out Williams and got Torreyes to pop out.
Didi Gregorius ended New York's scoreless streak by homering to begin the seventh. It was the first run for the Yankees since Donovan Solano's two-run homer in the ninth inning of Wednesday's win at Tampa Bay.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: 3B Chase Headley (back) returned to the lineup after sitting out Saturday.
UP NEXT
New York has yet to name a replacement for RHP Masahiro Tanaka (strained forearm) for Monday's series finale, but RHP Luis Severino is expected to get the assignment. LHP J.A. Happ (20-4, 3.28) starts for the Blue Jays. Happ has won three straight decisions.