New York Yankees catcher Brian McCann, left, reacts as Toronto Blue Jays Jose Bautista (19) celebrates heading to the dugout after hitting an eighth-inning, solo, home run as on-deck-batter Edwin Encarnacion right, joins the celebration during the first baseball game of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium in New York, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Chasen Shreve forced three runs in with bases-loaded walks in the 11th inning, and the Toronto Blue Jays rallied from a three-run deficit to beat the New York Yankees 9-5 Saturday in a doubleheader that could mark the final turning point in the AL East race.
Toronto had just one hit in the 11th but sent 10 men to the plate as Bryan Mitchell and Shreve combined to walk five batters and hit another. Former Yankee Russell Martin, Josh Donaldson and Jose Baustisa got RBIs with free passes, and Ben Revere singled in a run.
Bautista hit two of Toronto's four home runs, including an eighth-inning drive off Dellin Betances that put the Blue Jays ahead 5-4 and increased his season total to 35. Edwn Encarnacion and Revere also connected for the Blue Jays, who homered nine times in the first two games of the four-game series and boosted their major league-leading total to 201.
Toronto opened a season-high 3 1/2-game division lead going into the second game and cannot be overtaken by the Yankees this weekend.
The Blue Jays have won six straight at Yankee Stadium, where they lost 17 in a row from 2012-14.
Troy Tulowitzki, Toronto's All-Star shortstop, left after a second-inning collision. Tulowitzki was hurt when center fielder Kevin Pillar ran into him while they chased Didi Gregorius' popup. Tulowitzki backpedaled into short center, caught the ball and was hit from behind by Pillar. After transferring the ball to his right hand, Tulowitzki seemed to be stunned and fell to the field as the ball rolled away.
Tulowitzki was attended to by a trainer and walked off on his own, although with a limp. The Blue Jays said X-rays of his rib and chest were negative, and he was to have an additional scan.
Brett Gardner, Chase Headley and Alex Rodriguez homered against Toronto starter Marco Estrada as the Yankees lost their fourth straight. After the 4-hour, 32-minute opener New York found itself just three games ahead of Texas for the AL's first wild card.
After McCann's tying single, Roberto Osuna escaped a bases-loaded, one-out threat by getting Headley to pop out and Greg Bird to ground to second baseman Cliff Pennington, who made a sliding stop on the outfield grass.
Andrew Miller, like Betances, pitching on four days' rest, worked a perfect ninth and 10th. Mitchell (0-2) relieved to start the 11th. He loaded the bases with no outs on walks to Encarnacion and Chris Colabello around grazing Pennington on the lower left leg with a 1-2 pitch.
With the infield in, Dioner Navarro struck out, Shreve relieved, and Martin batted for Ryan Goins and walked on four straight pitches - the last bouncing past catcher John Ryan Murphy.
Toronto had three bases loaded walks in an inning for the first time since Sept. 6, 2009, also against the Yankees, according to STATS.
Liam Hendricks (5-0), Toronto's seventh pitcher, got the final out of the 10th but allowed Headley's single and Bird's double starting the 11th. Ryan Tepera, a 27-year-old rookie, relieved and got his first big league save.
Marcus Stroman was scheduled to start the second game for Toronto in his first big league appearance this year. Stroman tore a ligament in his left knee during a spring training drill on March 10. Ivan Nova (6-7) was slated to start for the Yankees.
Bautista's fourth-inning homer to right was just the eighth opposite-field homer of his career, according to STATS, and the first since last Sept. 14 at Yankee Stadium. He has 281 homers, including 35 this season.
Revere's homer was his first since Sept. 5 last year for Philadelphia at Washington.
Michael Pineda allowed three homers in a game for the first time since August 2011 and left after 5 1-3 innings, four runs and six hits. Estrada gave up four runs and six hits in six innings.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Blue Jays: Results of Tulowitzki's MRI were not expected until Sunday.
UP NEXT
Masahiro Tanaka (11-6) starts for the Yankees in Sunday's series finale against R.A. Dickey (10-10).
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