Bronx, NY – Yunel Escobar hit a two-run homer and drove in five on Wednesday and the Toronto Blue Jays edged the New York Yankees, 8-5, in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Escobar finished 4-for-5 with three doubles and also scored on Jeff Mathis' sacrifice bunt in the eighth inning.
Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind both added an RBI single for the Blue Jays, who secured their first road series victory against the Yankees since 2010.
J.A. Happ (3-1) allowed four runs on four hits and five walks with six strikeouts over five innings in the win. The lefty improved to 3-1 in nine games -- five starts -- since being acquired from the Astros.
Casey Janssen tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to record his 17th save of the season.
"It epitomized a game in which we had contributions from a number of guys. It was a very good game all around," said Blue Jays manager John Farrell.
CC Sabathia (13-4) made his second start since returning from the disabled list and gave up five runs -- two earned -- on nine hits over seven innings. He suffered his first loss to the Blue Jays since 2006 -- a span of 10 starts.
Curtis Granderson had a two-run double and an RBI groundout for the Yankees, who have lost eight of their last 13 games. They fell to 0-47 this season when trailing after eight innings.
Escobar put the Blue Jays on top, 5-4, with a two-run, sixth-inning homer. The blast to deep left-center field scored Lind, who led off with a base hit.
Derek Lowe replaced Sabathia in the eighth and Escobar began the frame with his second double of the game. Kelly Johnson followed with a single and Mathis' one-out sac bunt off Cody Eppley made it 6-4.
Raul Ibanez and Russell Martin led off the home half with consecutive doubles to pull New York within a run, but Brandon Lyon recorded three straight outs to prevent further damage.
Escobar tacked on a two-run double off Joba Chamberlain in the ninth to cap the scoring.
In all, the Yankees went 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position. They wasted a one-out double in the seventh and a leadoff two-bagger in the sixth. In the fourth, Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano struck out in succession after Happ intentionally walked Derek Jeter to load the bases with one down.
"We didn't play well," said New York manager Joe Girardi. "That's the bottom line. We had chances offensively and we didn't get it done. We had chances defensively and we didn't get it done."
New York held a 2-0 lead after Andruw Jones' RBI single and Granderson's run- scoring groundout in the first, but Toronto, which had lost six straight series entering the set, responded with a three-run third.
A pair of singles and an error by Jayson Nix loaded the bases with no outs before Mike McCoy ripped a grounder towards third base. Nix fielded the ball, stepped on third and threw home to complete the double play, but Encarnacion and Lind followed with consecutive singles to tie the game.
Escobar then doubled on a sharp grounder down the left-field line for a 3-2 advantage.
Granderson responded with two down in the bottom half when he lifted a fly ball over the head of Rajai Davis in left field. The double plated Swisher and Jones, who reached with a pair of walks.
Game Notes
The Blue Jays secured their first series win since July 27-29 against the Detroit Tigers (2-1) ... Happ improved to 2-0 in three career starts against the Yankees ... New York is the only team in the major leagues this season without a win when trailing after eight innings.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.