NEW YORK (AP) – Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista each hit a long home run, and the Toronto Blue Jays earned their eighth straight victory by beating the New York Yankees 2-0 Sunday to complete a three-game sweep that tightened the AL East race.
Marco Estrada tossed three-hit ball into the seventh inning against the suddenly slumping Yankees, outpitching Masahiro Tanaka during Toronto’s second consecutive shutout.
In a series that featured the top two offenses in the majors, New York mustered only one run and went scoreless over the final 26 innings. Not since 1999 had the Yankees been blanked in two straight games.
With their 11th win in 12 games, the streaking Blue Jays pulled within 1 1/2 games of the first-place Yankees. It was the first time since May 2003 that Toronto swept New York in a series of at least three games.
On an agitating afternoon for the Yankees, Brett Gardner slammed down his helmet with two hands after grounding out with a runner on second to end the third.