TORONTO - Jose Molina knocked in the winning run with a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the New York Yankees 5-4 on Friday night at Rogers Centre.
Molina hit a shot to right-centre field off Cory Wade that easily scored Canadian Brett Lawrie from second base. Adam Lind had started the rally with a line-drive double that nearly cleared the fence in right field.
Earlier, Lind hit a three-run double off Yankees ace CC Sabathia, who was pulled with two outs in the sixth inning. Sabathia was trying to join Detroit's Justin Verlander in the 20-win club.
Reliever Casey Janssen (5-0) got the win and Boone Logan (5-3) was tagged with the loss. Jays starter Dustin McGowan, who was making his third appearance of the season, gave up three hits and three earned runs over five innings.
Kelly Johnson had three singles and a walk for the Blue Jays (76-74). Eric Chavez hit a two-run homer for the Yankees, who still lead the American League with a 90-59 record.
McGowan's start was moved up a couple days after scheduled starter Brett Cecil cut his finger while cleaning a blender on Wednesday.
Toronto opened the scoring in the first inning. Mike McCoy led off with a single and Jose Bautista later stroked a single to right field that moved McCoy to third. Edwin Encarnacion followed with a grounder to short but Robinson Cano couldn't complete the double play as his throw pulled Mark Teixeira well off first base, allowing McCoy to score.
In the second, Cano lashed a ball down the first-base line but Bautista threw a one-bounce rocket to second and McCoy dived to tag Cano's foot just before he reached the bag.
The Jays let a great opportunity slip away in the third inning. Encarnacion was up with the bases loaded but his comebacker started a 1-2-3 double play.
Sabathia managed to escape without giving up a run again in the fourth. With Lind on after a single, J.P. Arencibia hit a rainbow shot to deep left field but outfielder Brett Gardner made a nice catch against the wall to end the frame.
New York tied the game at four in the top of the sixth inning. Cano doubled off reliever Jesse Litsch and Nick Swisher drove him in with an RBI single.
Toronto put two runners in scoring position in the bottom half of the frame but reliever Luis Ayala came on with two outs and got Encarnacion to line out to centre field.
Encarnacion stranded three more runners in the eighth inning. After Yankees reliever David Robertson intentionally walked Bautista to load the bases, Encarnacion flied out to deep right field.
The game took three hours 15 minutes to play and announced attendance was 29,323.
Notes: It was a chilly 15 degrees Celsius when McGowan threw the first pitch at 7:08 p.m. Eastern Time. The Rogers Centre roof started to close a few minutes before the start of the game. ... Jays rookie Henderson Alvarez (1-2, 3.09 ERA) will pitch against New York for the first time on Saturday. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Yankees have won 10 straight games and are 15-4 overall this year against pitchers who were facing them for the first time. Veteran Bartolo Colon (8-9, 3.55) will start for New York. ... Brandon Morrow (9-11, 5.23) will get the start against Freddy Garcia (11-7, 3.71). ... The Blue Jays announced the 2011 Webster Award winners Friday, recognizing the most valuable players at each of the club's minor-league teams. First baseman David Cooper won at triple-A Las Vegas and catcher Travis d'Arnaud took the honour at double-A New Hampshire. Other winners included catcher A.J. Jimenez (single-A Dunedin), outfielder Jake Marisnick (single-A Lansing), pitcher Justin Nicolino (Vancouver -- Northwest League), outfielder Chris Hawkins (Bluefield -- Appalachian League), shortstop Joge Vega-Rosado (Gulf Coast Blue Jays -- Gulf Coast League) and pitcher Jairo Labourt (DSL Blue Jays -- Dominican Summer League).
