TORONTO — Brandon Morrow and two relievers combined on a five-hitter, pitching the Toronto Blue Jays to a 6-0 victory over New York on Thursday night that trimmed the Yankees’ tight lead in the AL East.
Edwin Encarnacion had three hits and three RBIs for Toronto. Brett Lawrie hit a two-run homer and J.P. Arencibia added a solo shot as the Blue Jays handed an assist to idle Baltimore, shaving New York’s division lead over the Orioles to one game.
New York lost for the third time in five games and wasted a chance to go two up with six to play.
Making his third start since missing 14 games with a sore right shoulder, Yankees right-hander Ivan Nova (12-8) allowed four runs and six hits in 4 2-3 innings. He walked two and struck out four.
Nova, knocked out in the third inning of his previous start, has not won back-to-back outings since a five-start winning streak from May 25 to June 17. The 87 extra-base hits off Nova are the most yielded by any big league pitcher.
Morrow (9-7) scattered four hits over seven innings, walked three and struck out three to win for the first time in five starts. It was his longest outing since returning from the disabled list Aug. 25 after missing 65 games with a strained muscle in his left side.
Brad Lincoln worked the eighth and Darren Oliver finished for the Blue Jays, who have won three of four following a seven-game losing streak.
Morrow got some help from his defense after Robinson Cano’s one-out single in the fourth. Rookie left fielder Anthony Gose crashed into the wall to haul in a deep drive from Nick Swisher, then threw the ball into second baseman Kelly Johnson, who doubled off Cano at first.
Cano doubled to begin the seventh and Swisher walked but Morrow fanned Curtis Granderson, then got Russell Martin and Raul Ibanez to fly out.
Nova ran into trouble after walking Gose to begin the fourth. Lawrie followed with an opposite-field homer to right, his 10th of the season and first since July 22.
Gose led off with a single in the fifth, went to second on Lawrie’s groundout and moved to third on a bunt single by Colby Rasmus. That brought up Encarnacion, who drove in both runners with a double into the right-field corner.
Even with the infield drawn in, New York couldn’t stop Toronto from making it 5-0 against Derek Lowe in the seventh when Lawrie scored on Encarnacion’s grounder to shortstop. Arencibia capped the scoring with a second-deck homer off David Aardsma in the eighth, his 18th.
Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar was greeted with a smattering of boos during his first home game since wearing eye-black with an anti-gay slur. A few fans booed when Escobar’s name was announced as the lineups were read before the game. There was a mix of boos and cheers as Escobar batted in the bottom of the first, lining out on Nova’s first pitch. Escobar’s subsequent at-bats drew almost no reaction from the crowd of 23,060.
NOTES: New York OF Brett Gardner, who came off the 60-day DL this week after missing 142 games with a strained right elbow, took part in two sets of batting practice before the game. It’s the first time he’s taken BP since rejoining the team. … Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez, who did not play in Wednesday’s victory at Minnesota, started at DH. Jayson Nix was at third base. Manager Joe Girardi said Rodriguez could return to third base during this series, possibly Friday. Rodriguez went 0 for 2 and has one hit in his last 16 at-bats. … New York 1B Mark Teixeira (strained left calf) had seven at-bats in a simulated game and will do the same Friday or Saturday, Girardi said. … Aardsma pitched in a major league game for the first time since Sept. 19, 2010. He missed the past two seasons following hip and elbow operations.