New York: Jacoby Ellsbury overcame a first-inning deficit against R.A. Dickey with a two-run homer on the knuckleballer’s third pitch of the game, then added an RBI single to lead the New York Yankees over the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 Monday.
In a match-up of teams fighting for playoff berths as the season passed Labour Day, Masahiro Tanaka (12-4) settled down after a shaky first to win his fifth straight decision.
New York (71-65) matched its season high of six games over .500 but remained on the periphery of contention, 3 1/2 games back for the AL’s second wild card. The AL East-leading Blue Jays (77-60) started the day one game ahead of Boston.
Dellin Betances, the Yankees’ sixth pitcher, got three straight outs for his ninth save.
In Chicago, Justin Upton hit a three-run home run in the 11th inning to lift Detroit 5-3 over Chicago for its 11th win in 14 games. Miguel Cabrera homered twice and had four hits off Chris Sale, and Justin Verlander struck out 11 in seven innings as the Tigers stayed tied with Baltimore for the second AL wild card.
Rookie Alex Bregman continued his hot hitting with a two-run homer in the third inning and Houston ended Cleveland’s six-game winning streak 6-2.
Bregman has hit all seven of his homers and driven in 22 runs over his last 19 games for the Astros, who remain two games out of the second wild-card spot in the AL.
