Yankees score 20 runs against Blue Jays to regain footing in AL East
NEW YORK -- TheNew York Yankeeshave transformed back into the Bronx Bombers after a three-week stretch in which they nearly bombed out of postseason contention.
DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voitbecame the first players at the top of New York's batting order to have five RBIs in the same game, and New York rocketed past the Toronto Blue Jaysand into second place in the AL East with a 20-6 blowout Tuesday night that extended its winning streak to six.
Voit homered twice from the No. 2 slot, raising his major league-leading total to 18. Voit and Aaron Hicks went deep to key a seven-run second-inning burst made possible when right fielder Derek Fisher misplayed a pair of fly balls.
"A couple of weeks ago, I don't think teams were scared of us. And now we're back to being the Bronx Bombers," Voit said. "I don't think people want to play us in the playoffs.''
LeMahieu had four hits to go with his five RBIs, raising his average 13 points to .363. He homered on a 48.7 mph offering from infielder Santiago Espinal leading off the eighth, the slowest pitch hit for a home run since MLB started tracking velocity of pitches in 2008.
Gary Sanchez hit a three-run homer off Anthony Kay, and Clint Frazier had a two-run shot against Ryan Borucki.
New York has rebounded following a 5-15 stretch that nearly dropped it out of the eight playoff places in the American League and has closed within two games of Minnesota (30-20) for the No. 4 seed -- and a first-round series at home. The Yankees (27-21) and Blue Jays (26-21) started a stretch of seven games against each other in the final two weeks.
"Makes for some sleepless nights,'' Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "And now as we get more and more guys back and healthy and in the mix, I know we're capable of amazing things.''
Giancarlo Stanton and Gio Urshela returned from the injured list, and the Yankees could get Aaron Judge back Wednesday. They opened a roster spot after Tuesday's game by optioning infielder Thairo Estrada to the alternate site.
Stanton was 0-for-4 with a walk as the designated hitter, the only Yankees starter without a hit, after missing 32 games because of a strained left hamstring.
"A lot of deep counts, obviously smoked the ball,'' Boone said. "I thought he looked good and comfortable.''
Urshela had three hits and made several sparkling defensive plays at third after missing 11 games with a right elbow bone spur.
"It's good right now. No pain,'' Urshela said.
Rookie Deivi Garcia allowed three runs and six hits in six innings and is in position to be part of the postseason rotation.
New York scored its most runs since a 20-6 win at Atlanta on Aug. 30, 2015. The Yankees batted around in the second, third and fourth innings, the first time they achieved the feat in three consecutive frames since doing it from the fifth through eighth innings in a 22-9 rout of Oakland on Aug. 25, 2011, according to Elias Sports Bureau research.
Ace Gerrit Cole starts for New York on Wednesday, seeking to join Justin Verlander, Roy Osawlt and Mark Mulder as the only pitchers since 2000 to reach 100 career wins in 203 or fewer appearances.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
