Yankees continue Bronx mastery over Blue Jays

NEW YORK – The Yankees haven't been sure if their bats are going to be making loud noise from game to game, but they have been able to count on the Toronto Blue Jays to crumble inside Yankee Stadium. And not just this season, either.

The Blue Jays had dropped 16 straight here dating to 2012 prior to the opener of a three-game series Friday night. The home team's odds seemed even better with Mark Buehrle taking the ball for Toronto. The 35-year-old lefty had never won in the Bronx in seven starts and had beaten the Yankees just once in 18 starts.

Jose Bautista cracked two homers to back him, but the home team's bats were loud on this night. The Yankees rallied behind homers by Carlos Beltran and Ichiro Suzuki to make it 17 straight, including four this season, hanging a 6-4 loss on Buehrle and the Blue Jays.

For all their injuries and rough edges, the Yankees own the second wild card right now. There have won four straight and are 7-1 since the break — the last five wins have been comebacks — moving them to 54-48 with two to go on the 10-game homestand.

"It beats the alternative," Joe Girardi said about the wild-card standings. "But it really doesn't mean a whole lot with 60 games to go."

Buehrle once won a game at the old Stadium in 2004. After allowing six runs and nine hits in three innings, he dropped to 1-12 against the Yankees overall. He's 0-10 with a 7.34 ERA in his last 15 starts against them.

"It's hard to say," Girardi said when asked why. "He's a really good pitcher."

Buehrle (10-7) owned a 4-2 lead in the third. But Beltran hit a solo shot to left. Then Bautista watched a flyover, Ichiro's three-run shot to right, snapping a 294 at-bat homerless streak dating to last August. Maybe it will quell Derek Jeter's teasing.

"During batting practice, he always tells me, 'Can't leave. Can't leave,' which means the ball doesn't leave the ballpark," Ichiro said through his interpreter.

Hiroki Kuroda (7-6), with help from four relievers, earned the victory after allowing the four runs and eight hits in 5²/₃.

"With the stuff I had, I was struggling," Kuroda said through his interpreter. "At the same time, I tried to hang in there."

Bautista got him for a three-run homer in the first. After Brian Roberts and Brett Gardner knocked in runs in the second, Joey Bats' bat produced a solo homer in the third, marking his 20th of the season, giving Toronto a two-run lead.

But this wasn't going to be the Jays' night here — again.

Extra bases:Chris Capuano was plucked out of the Rockies' system Thursday, and the 35-year-old lefty will be moving right into the rotation. Capuano, a veteran of 209 starts in his 10-year big-league career, will pitch Saturday. Shane Greene will be pushed back to Sunday. Chase Whitley is moving to the bullpen. … Mark Teixeira missed his fifth straight game with a lat strain. He said he was feeling better, then ran and did rotational exercises. Girardi thought it would be unlikely Teixeira could return to the lineup Sunday.

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