Major League Baseball
Toronto 4, NY Yankees 0
When: 7:07 PM ET, Thursday, August 10, 2017
Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Temperature: 70°
Umpires: Home - Jerry Meals, 1B - Chris Guccione, 2B - Chris Conroy, 3B - Mark Carlson
Attendance: 43212

TORONTO -- Marco Estrada had been pitching too well recently not to win sooner or later.

It finally clicked for the Toronto Blue Jays starter Thursday night when he delivered seven scoreless innings in a 4-0 victory over the New York Yankees.

It was his first win since May 27, even though it was the third straight start in which he had pitched seven innings.

"I don't think he could be any better than tonight," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "Really his last three starts. It's like he's found that groove again. No matter what he's throwing, he's locating it, they're not picking up the changeup."

Estrada (5-7) allowed five hits and three walks while striking out six to end the drought of 12 starts without a win.

"We just couldn't square him up when we had guys in scoring position," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Jose Bautista hit a solo home run for the Blue Jays (54-60), who have a 7-6 lead in the season series with the Yankees (60-53).

"I've been feeling good for a little while now," Estrada said. "I've changed my mechanics a little bit. And things are kind of working out now, I feel like I've got a pretty good downhill plane when throwing fastballs and changeups. I've been able to elevate a lot. It's kind of going back to how I was pitching before."

"Everything looks like a fastball," Yankees third baseman Todd Frazier said. "We were out front today. He was very effective with that changeup."

Sonny Gray (6-7), starting for the second time since the Yankees obtained him in a trade with the Oakland Athletics, allowed three runs (two earned), four hits and four walks in six innings. The right-hander struck out six and is 0-2 with the Yankees.

"Clearly, I wasn't throwing enough strikes," Gray said. "I just gave them too many free passes and I just didn't throw enough strikes, definitely not enough quality strikes."

Estrada also was mentioned in trade rumors leading to the deadline and he said not being traded has eased his mind.

"It's a little weight off your shoulders when you know you're not going anywhere," he said. "I know we still have a month and things could happen but I'm really not thinking about it anymore."

Ezequiel Carrera doubled with one out in the second inning, took third on Gray's errant pickoff attempt and slid home safely after the pitcher scooped the ball to catcher Gary Sanchez on a trickler by Ryan Goins.

The Blue Jays went up 2-0 in the third on a walk and stolen base by Bautista, and a single by Josh Donaldson.

Toronto took a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Pearce led off with a single, Carrera sacrificed him to second, Goins walked and Kevin Pillar rapped an RBI single to left.

"Sonny's tough, you're not going to knock him around a lot," Gibbons said. "You have to take advantage of any opportunity."

Bautista hit his 19th homer of the season with two out in the seventh against reliever Chasen Shreve to increase Toronto's lead to four runs.

Toronto's Ryan Tepera pitched around a single in the eighth and Roberto Osuna worked around two walks by striking out three in the ninth.

"We haven't been as consistent (offensively) in the second half," Girardi said. "The guys are working at it. There's early BP, they're doing their cage work, they're doing everything. It's just been a little bit of a struggle. This is who we have and we have to get the job done."

The Yankees are home to the Red Sox for a three-game series starting Friday.

"It's really important," Girardi said. "You've got to stay in striking distance so when you have a chance to play them, you can make up ground. You can't rely on other teams."

NOTES: Yankees OF Clint Frazier (left oblique strain) went on the 10-day disabled list Thursday and OF Aaron Hicks (right oblique strain) was reinstated from the DL. ... Toronto RHP Taylor Cole (fractured right toe) was put on the disabled list Thursday after he was hit on the foot by a comebacker during his major league debut Wednesday. RHP Chris Smith was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to take his place. ... Toronto DH Kendrys Morales (illness) was a late scratch Thursday and RF Jose Bautista moved to DH and OF Ezequiel Carrera played right field. ... Yankees LHP Jaime Garcia (5-8, 4.49 ERA) will face Boston Red Sox LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (4-3, 4.08) on Friday in New York. ... RHP Marcus Stroman (10-5, 3.17) will oppose Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Jameson Taillon (6-5, 4.60) on Friday in Toronto.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
NY Yankees   Toronto
Sonny Gray Player Marco Estrada
Loss W/L Win
6.0 IP 7.0
6 Strikeouts 6
4 Hits 5
3.00 ERA 0.00
Hitting
NY Yankees   Toronto
Garrett Cooper Player Ezequiel Carrera
2 Hits 1
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
3 TB 2
.500 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
NY Yankees 6 0 9 .182 19 10 0 5 0 1
Toronto 5 1 9 .185 7 9 4 4 1 0