Major League Baseball

McCann, Yanks hand Jays 15th consecutive Bronx loss

Published Jun. 18, 2014 10:19 p.m. ET

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NEW YORK — Brian McCann has been helping the New York Yankees win games lately, even if his hitting stats haven't shown it.

He's got some numbers to point to now, after he homered, tripled and drove in five runs to send the Yankees past the first-place Toronto Blue Jays 7-3 on Wednesday night.

"It was about time I chipped it in, and tonight was a good night to do that," McCann said. "It was just nice to contribute — on the offensive side for a change."

McCann hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the fourth and added a bases-loaded triple in the seventh to help the Yankees beat Mark Buehrle for the ninth consecutive time and hand the Blue Jays their 15th loss in a row in the Bronx.

"I gave up a flyball to right field that's a two-run homer and we lose the game," Buehrle said. "Same thing as yesterday — a little 318-foot flyball that ends up going out. It's frustrating when you come out and battle, tonight and last night, and pretty much it's two losses on that short porch in right field."

Rookie Chase Whitley (3-0) remained unbeaten in seven starts since making his big-league debut this season.

"We had never seen him as a starter," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "So our expectations have changed a lot."

Buehrle (10-4) was trying to tie Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka for the most wins in the majors. He gave up three runs and six hits in six innings and lost his third straight start overall.

Buehrle is 1-11 lifetime against the Yankees, with his lone win coming in 2004 while with the Chicago White Sox.

McCann tied his career high with five RBI. Toronto's Jose Bautista had an RBI double in the eighth for his 1,000th career hit.

The Yankees have taken the first two in a three-game series against Toronto.

McCann's third big-league triple, and first since 2009 as an All-Star catcher with Atlanta, came off left-hander Brett Cecil, who had been brought in to face pinch-hitter Ichiro Suzuki with the Blue Jays down 3-2 in the seventh.

Cecil walked Suzuki with the bases loaded to force in a run before McCann put the game safely out of reach.

Cecil said after the game that he would be going on the disabled list due to his nagging left groin injury.

McCann was hitting .174 for June before his homer, which was measured at 348 feet — not far enough to clear most fences in the majors.

"We really believe in him as an offensive force and he showed it tonight. A couple tough lefties he's facing and he drives in five," Girardi said. "He's done a great job behind home plate, he's never taken it behind home plate."

McCann helped the Yankees respond after the Blue Jays took a 2-1 lead on two-out RBI singles by Colby Rasmus and Dioner Navarro in the top half.

Alfonso Soriano's first-inning single put the Yankees on the board.

Whitley gave up two runs and five hits in five innings. He walked Melky Cabrera in the fifth, ending his streak of starts without a walk at three. His last walk was May 26 against the Cardinals.

NOTES

Derek Jeter saw six pitches in his first four at-bats, going 0 for 4 before he popped up a bunt attempt in the seventh. He hit a double off the wall in the eighth, giving him 533, one behind Lou Gehrig as the Yankees leader. ... Brett Gardner singled his first four times for the Yankees before a lineout in the eighth. ... McCann was the first Yankees catcher to have a homer, a triple and five RBI since Elston Howard on Aug. 19, 1962. ... Toronto 3B Brett Lawrie was hit in back of the left hand by a pitch in the fourth inning replaced by Steve Tolleson in the bottom of the fifth. Lawrie said he "should be able to go" Thursday. ... The series ends Thursday night, with Yankees RHP David Phelps (2-4) set to face righty Drew Hutchison (5-4). ... The Yankees' longest home winning streak vs. any team was 19 in a row over Cleveland from June 1960 to April 1962, the team said in citing the Elias Sports Bureau. ... Toronto's Melky Cabrera extended his streak of games with a hit against his former team to 18 with a first-inning single. 

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