Yankees Beat Blue Jays 9-6, Maintain Share of Lead

Eduardo Nunez drove in the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly, and the New York Yankees overcame a four-run deficit to beat Toronto Blue Jays 9-6 on Sunday and remain tied with Baltimore atop the AL East.

Eric Chavez homered for the Yankees (92-67), who completed a 4-3 trip and headed home for a season closing series against Boston. The Orioles (92-67) beat the Red Sox 6-3 and traveled to Florida for their final series, at Tampa Bay.

Toronto took a 5-1 lead in the fifth against Phil Hughes, but the Yankees closed in the sixth on a run-scoring pitch by Henderson Alvarez and tied it an inning later on Ichiro Suzuki's sacrifice fly, Robinson Cano's RBI double against Steve Delabar and Aaron Loup's run-scoring wild pitch.

Darren Oliver (3-4) walked Curtis Granderson leading off the seventh, Raul Ibanez singled, Russell Martin sacrificed and Nunez drove in the go-ahead run. Derek Jeter's RBI single put the Yankees ahead 7-5.

Granderson added a two-run single in the ninth off Jason Frasor, reaching 100 RBIs for the second straight year despite a .226 batting average.

Boone Logan (7-2) got the final two outs of the seventh as the Yankees avoided consecutive defeats for the first time since a three-game skid from Sept. 2-4. Rafael Soriano allowed Toronto to lead the bases with no outs in the ninth before Yunel Escobar hit into a run-scoring, double-play grounder and Adam Lind grounded out.

New York has overcome four-game deficits to win twice in a nine-game span for the second time this season, according to STATS LLC. The Yankees tied Baltimore and Texas (92-66) for the most wins in the AL.

Hughes allowed five runs, eight hits and two walks in 4 2-3 innings. He allowed his 35th home run, one behind major league leader Ervin Santana of the Los Angeles Angels.

Toronto went ahead in the first on Escobar's RBI double and Lind's sacrifice fly. Chavez hit his 16th home run in the third, connecting off Brett Cecil, but the Blue Jays scored three times in the bottom half on Brett Lawrie's two-run homer, a second-deck drive to left, and Moises Sierra's RBI single.

NOTES: New York 1B Mark Teixeira is expected to rejoin the Yankees on Monday to play against Boston. Teixeira has played just one game since Aug. 27 because of a strained left calf. ... Baltimore's win clinched home field for the Orioles if there is a one-game tiebreaker game to decide the AL East. ... Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion left in the seventh with muscle tightness in his left shoulder and neck. Colby Rasmus pinch hit for Encarnacion and struck out. ... Yankees INF Jayson Nix is expected to miss 10 to 14 days with a strained left hip.