Phelps powers Yanks past the Jays.

It seems like David Phelps is just getting better with each start he makes. After allowing only 1 run to the Indians on Monday, Phelps was at it again tossing a career high, 7 innings in a 7-2 win over the Blue Jays.

Phelps struck out 8 Jays hitter, while surrendering only 1 run on 6 hits, while walking 3 on 113 pitches over 7 innings. Before today, Phelps' career high in innings was 6 2/3, which he hit four times in his career.

"It was really good today where I'm able to throw backdoor to lefties and down and away to righties." Phelps said. "I didn't have a great curveball and there weren't a lot of counts where you could throw a changeup today. We had to battle with what we had, and the slider ended up being really good."

Cano's two, two-run homers helped set the Yankees in
a position to sweep the Jays on Sunday.

The Yankees offense gave Phelps a nice cushion to work with. Jumping on Jays starter Brandon Marrow for three runs in the 3rd inning, including a two-run homerun from Robinson Cano.

Cano came up for the 3rd time in the 5th, and launched his 2nd homerun of the game. At the time, it was his league leading 12th homerun of the year. Edwin Encarnacion later tied that total with a solo shot in the 8th.

Travis Hafner was in the Yankees lineup for the 1st time all week, since missing a few games with right shoulder tendinitis. He had launched couple balls deep to right field, but went foul. Yet in the 8th, he hit a ball that was able to wrap around the foul pole for his 6th homerun of the season.

"I thought he looked really good," said Girardi. "The first ball, he hit a bullet up the middle. He hit a homer foul. You can see there's a difference. The last couple weeks, he's been playing with a soreness in there. It just didn't seem to be the same lift. But it's back."

Before hitting that homerun, the Yankees were leading 5-2 making it a save situation for Mariano Rivera. But after Hafner's two-run blast, Mariano sat down, giving the 43-year old another day off.

David Robertson pitched the 9th, giving up the solo homerun to Encarnacion. Before the homerun, Robertson had retired 18 straight batter s he faced.

Boone Logan pitched the 9th instead of Rivera and shut down the Blue Jays in order, to seal the Yankees 9th straight home victory against the Blue Jays.

"The numbers speak for themselves," Gibbons said. "No doubt, nine in a row, six while I've been here. Yankee Stadium is always a tough place to play, regardless. They've taken it to us pretty good here."

The Yankees now lead the Jays by 10 games in the AL East, and have ran up their American League record of being 18-0 when scoring 1st in a game.