TORONTO (AP) Miguel Andujar first got manager Aaron Boone’s attention at spring training.
Two months into his rookie season, Andujar’s impressive hitting is getting attention all around the major leagues.
Andujar hit his first career grand slam, CC Sabathia pitched seven innings to snap a five-start winless streak and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 on Tuesday night.
Aaron Hicks added a three-run blast as the Yankees won for the sixth time in seven games. New York is 30-9 since a 9-9 start.
Andujar connected off right-hander Seunghwan Oh (1-2) in the seventh, his seventh home run of the season.
”I feel really excited for that,” Andujar said. ”Another record for my career.”
Andujar leads all big league rookies with 29 extra-base hits this season, including seven of his past eight.
”It’s been really impressive,” Boone said. ”He’s been so important to what we’ve been able to do, especially offensively and the length of our lineup.
”When I first saw him in spring, he kind of leapt off the screen to me, as far as swinging the bat,” Boone added. ”He can really hit. Look, I think he can be a really good hitter in this league for a long time.”
Sabathia (3-1) allowed two runs and three hits to win for the first time since April 29 against the Los Angeles Angels. The seven innings matched his season high.
”He was terrific,” Boone said. ”That’s as good as we’ve seen him, maybe.”
Sabathia walked one and struck out six, one shy of his season best.
”I knew they were going to be aggressive so I was just trying to match their aggressiveness in the strike zone,” Sabathia said.
Since the start of the 2017 season, Sabathia is 10-0 with a 2.71 ERA in 16 starts following a Yankees loss.
The Yankees are a major league-best 27-3 when their starters go at least six innings.
Hicks added a three-run homer off Aaron Loup in the eighth, his sixth.
Teoscar Hernandez and Kevin Pillar hit solo home runs, but the slumping Blue Jays lost for the ninth time in 10 home games. Toronto has lost six of seven overall, and 14 of its past 17.
”We’re not playing particularly well, obviously,” manager John Gibbons said.
Toronto, which snapped a five-game losing streak Sunday, has not won back-to-back games since April 30 and May 1 at Minnesota.
Blue Jays right-hander Marco Estrada left after Gary Sanchez singled to begin the seventh. Oh hit Didi Gregorius and walked Hicks before Andujar’s first-pitch homer into the second deck in left.
Estrada, who has not won since April 20, allowed one run and six hits in six innings.
CATCH OF THE DAY
Standing in the right-field bullpen, Yankees reliever David Robertson caught Hicks’ home run ball in the eighth.
LOVING THE LONG BALL
New York has 26 multihomer games this season. The Yankees are 20-6 in those games.
LEFT BEHIND
The Blue Jays have lost a franchise-worst 10 straight against left-handed starters.
TIME CHANGE
Boone said he was ”excited” and ”grateful” after the start time of New York’s July 8 game at Toronto was changed from 8 p.m. to 1 p.m. Originally scheduled for 1 p.m., the game was moved to the evening last week after being selected for broadcast on ESPN. That meant New York, which has a doubleheader at Baltimore beginning at 4:05 p.m. the following day, would have played three games in approximately 24 hours.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: OF Aaron Judge got the day off, one day after going 0 for 9 with eight strikeouts in a doubleheader against Detroit. … LHP Jordan Montgomery will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery on Thursday. Montgomery has been out since May 1.
Blue Jays: 3B prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. returned to the lineup at Double-A New Hampshire after missing two games because of a sore left ankle. Guerrero went 0 for 4, dropping his average to .401. … RHP Marcus Stroman (shoulder) threw live batting practice at Toronto’s spring training facility in Florida on Tuesday and could begin a rehab stint later this week. … Major League Baseball on Monday extended RHP Roberto Osuna’s administrative leave until June 11. Osuna is awaiting trial for assault.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays RHP Sam Gaviglio (2-1, 3.32 ERA faces Yankees RHP Sonny Gray (4-4, 5.50). Gray has a 7.36 ERA in two starts against Toronto this season. Gaviglio allowed a season-worst four runs to lose at Boston on May 30.
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
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