Blue Jays 8, Yankees 4
Aaron Hill belted one of three Toronto home runs as the Blue Jays broke the franchise record for homers in a season, ending the home portion of their schedule with an 8-4 win over the New York Yankees on Wednesday night.
The loss was a pivotal one for the Yankees, who remain a half-game back of the Tampa Bay Rays in the race for the AL East title. Tampa dropped a 2-0 decision to the Baltimore Orioles.
Travis Snider, whose blast Tuesday night equaled the team record of 244 set in 2000, hit the record-setting dinger to lead off the bottom of the first inning against Yankees starter Javier Vazquez (10-10). John Buck added his 20th of the season in the second frame and Hill put an exclamation point on the proceedings with a three-run blast in the fifth, his 26th of the campaign.
Hill finished with four RBIs on a night the Jays honored outgoing manager Cito Gaston. The man who guided Toronto to its only two World Series titles in 1992 and 1993 was treated to a pregame celebration which included a stirring video featuring well wishes from Bobby Cox, Dusty Baker, Hank Aaron and others.
The offensive explosion made a winner out of left-hander Brett Cecil (15-7), who finished the season with a 4-0 record in five starts against the Yankees. Cecil allowed three runs on nine hits over 5 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out two.
Vazquez was lit up for seven runs in just 4 2/3 innings of work.
Alex Rodriguez belted a solo home run in the sixth, joining Barry Bonds as the only major league players to string together 13 consecutive seasons of at least 30 home runs and 100 RBIs.