Major League Baseball
NY Yankees 3, Toronto 2
When: 7:07 PM ET, Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - James Hoye, 1B - Chad Fairchild, 2B - Jim Joyce, 3B - Marvin Hudson
Attendance: 28819

TORONTO -- When the New York Yankees take the lead late in the game, they are going to be difficult to beat, even though they are without hard-throwing left-hander Aroldis Chapman, who is sitting out a 30-game suspension.

The Toronto Blue Jays know that only too well, and it happened again on Tuesday in the Yankees' 3-2 victory.

New York (4-2) tied the game in the sixth on a home run by Brian McCann and took the lead in the seventh on a bloop single by Jacoby Ellsbury.

The bullpen did the rest. Right-hander Dellin Betances held the Blue Jays for 1 1/3 innings and left-hander Andrew Miller pitched the ninth to earn his second save of the season.

"That's what they do," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "You figure they're only going to get better once Chapman comes back."

"Any time we can go out there and hold the lead, it gives us confidence moving forward," Betances said.

Jose Bautista hit a two-run double in the third inning to give the Blue Jays (3-5) a 2-1 lead in the opener of the three-game series.

But Betances caught Bautista looking at a called third strike on a 3-2 pitch to end the seventh inning with the potential tying run on second.

"I love coming into a tight game and facing the heart of the lineup," Betances said. "I enjoy that moment and try to do the best I can. You don't want to give him a pitch right down the middle because he's a guy that can hurt you with one swing. I'm trying to make good pitches and with first base open I'm not going to give in easy."

The Blue Jays have lost three of the first four games on a six-game homestand.

"They played us really tough last year," said Yankees third baseman Chase Headley who was 2-for-3. "Especially toward the end, we had a tough time beating them. We clawed and we scratched and were able to get a couple in. Sometimes you've got to win like that."

McCann will not be playing on Wednesday, however. He suffered a bruised big toe on a foul tip and was replaced by Austin Romine in the ninth.

"They drained a little blood out of the toenail after the eighth inning," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said "He's pretty sore. He won't be a player for us (Wednesday)."

Neither starter factored in the decision.

Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka allowed three hits, four walks and two runs while striking out six in five innings.

"We worked Tanaka really well," Gibbons said. "I thought we had a real good approach but we've got some guys who are cold right now."

Blue Jays right-hander Aaron Sanchez gave up two runs (one earned), three hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out five.

McCann hit his second homer of the season on a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the sixth to tie the score at 2.

Right-hander Johnny Barbato (1-0) replaced Tanaka to open the sixth and allowed only a walk in one inning to pick up his first career win.

Left-hander Brett Cecil (0-2) took the loss for Toronto, allowing a leadoff single to Headley followed by a walk to Starlin Castro in the seventh.

Didi Gregorius sacrificed the runners to second and third. Ellsbury singled to shallow left to put New York into the lead.

Left-hander Chasen Shreve walked Josh Donaldson with two outs in the seventh and the Yankees brought in Betances to face Bautista. Donaldson stole second as Bautista worked the count to 3-1 before Betances came back to end the inning with a called third strike.

Miller pitched the ninth for his second save of the season.

The Yankees scored an unearned run in the second.

Sanchez walked McCann, induced a comebacker from Carlos Beltran and walked Headley. Sanchez's throw to second on a pickoff attempt went into center field for an error that put the runners at second and third.

"He's dead in the water if I make a good throw," Sanchez said. "He was out there bouncing around."

McCann scored on Castro's groundout to second.

"In the second inning I let some things affect me that I shouldn't have and it cost us a run," Sanchez said. "There were a couple of calls there that didn't go my way and obviously being in the big leagues it shouldn't affect you but I did and it cost us a run."

Bautista hit his two-run double in the third to center to score Kevin Pillar, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and Donaldson, who singled.

NOTES: The Blue Jays extended their agreement with Triple-A Buffalo by two years through the 2018 season, it was announced Tuesday. ... Stephen Brooks has resigned as Blue Jays senior vice president of business operations, the club confirmed. Brooks oversaw the installation of the dirt infield at Rogers Centre during the offseason. ... Yankees RHP Nick Rumbelow will have Tommy John surgery on Friday after injuring his elbow while pitching for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday. ... The Yankees announced that they have reached a tentative agreement with the Tampa Sports Authority to remain at Steinbrenner Field through 2046 with a $40 million renovation of the facility to be completed by March. ... The Blue Jays will start LHP J.A. Happ (0-0, 3.00 ERA) against Yankees RHP Michael Pineda (1-0, 10.80 ERA) in the second game of a three-game series.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
NY Yankees   Toronto
Masahiro Tanaka Player Aaron Sanchez
No Decision W/L No Decision
5.0 IP 6.0
6 Strikeouts 5
3 Hits 3
3.60 ERA 1.50
Hitting
NY Yankees   Toronto
Brian McCann Player Jose Bautista
2 Hits 1
1 RBI 2
1 HR 0
5 TB 2
.667 Avg .333
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
NY Yankees 7 1 11 .212 16 9 3 4 1 1
Toronto 3 0 4 .103 13 11 2 6 1 1