Donaldson, Smoak power Blue Jays
TORONTO — Josh Donaldson homered twice, Justin Smoak drove in three runs and Francisco Liriano pitched into the sixth in his return from the disabled list as the Toronto Blue Jays held off the New York Yankees for a 7-5 win on Friday.
Smoak had three hits, including a two-run homer, scored twice and added a sacrifice fly for the Blue Jays (27-28), who bounced back from a 12-2 loss to New York a night earlier.
Devon Travis drove in a run on another sac fly, and Roberto Osuna closed it out for his 12th save.
Liriano (3-2), activated off the DL (left shoulder inflammation) earlier in the day, allowed two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five through five innings in his first start since May 10.
Aaron Judge and Starlin Castro each hit two-run homers for the Yankees (31-21) and Matt Holliday had an RBI double. Michael Pineda (6-3) allowed 10 hits and five runs through five innings. He also walked three batters and struck out one.
Toronto had 12 hits, including at least one from every player in the starting lineup. New York had eight.
The Blue Jays attacked early with three runs in the first inning.
Donaldson started it with his first solo homer, then Smoak followed a Kendrys Morales walk with a towering shot off the scoreboard along the 300-level facade. The scoreboard went dark after Smoak hit it and remained that way until flickering back on in the bottom of the second.
Smoak added to the lead in the third, scoring Jose Bautista from third on a sac fly. Luke Maile, starting a second straight game in place of No. 1 catcher Russell Martin, scored Toronto’s fifth run in the fourth inning, racing home from third on a Pineda wild pitch.
New York stranded five base runners over the first three innings and failed to reach in the fourth or fifth. But the Yankees roared back in the sixth inning, scoring four runs to cut their deficit to 5-4.
Gary Sanchez led off with a single before Judge launched his 18th homer of the season into the second deck to spell the end of Liriano’s night. With Danny Barnes in, Holliday walked and Castro followed with a two-run homer.
Donaldson restored some of the cushion with his second homer, another solo shot, off reliever Jonathan Holder in the bottom of the sixth.
But the Yankees tacked on another run on Holliday’s RBI double in the seventh.
Travis’s sac fly gave the Jays a 7-5 lead in the seventh.
NOTES: It was Donaldson’s 11th career multi-homer game . ... Martin sat out with a sore neck that manager John Gibbons said wasn’t related to a previous injury. Martin spent time on the disabled list last month with a nerve issue in his left shoulder . ... Attendance was 44,261.