TORONTO (Interstat) — The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the New York Yankees 8-5 on Friday, June 12, at Rogers Centre in front of 41,596 fans, snapping a four-game losing streak to their American League East rivals and improving to 34-36 while the Yankees fell to 41-27.

Toronto seized control early, scoring three runs in the first inning and two more in the second to build a 5-0 lead. The Yankees answered with a three-run fifth inning and a two-run sixth, but the Blue Jays responded each time and added an insurance run in the eighth to secure the victory.

Trey Yesavage earned the win for Toronto, improving to 3-3 after allowing five runs on four hits over 5 ⅓ innings. He struck out two and walked four. Ryan Weathers took the loss for New York, falling to 2-5 after surrendering six earned runs on five hits over 4 ⅓ innings with two strikeouts and two walks. Louis Varland recorded his 12th save of the season by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.

Toronto struck first in the bottom of the first inning. After George Springer flied out, Ernie Clement reached on a soft ground ball that deflected off third baseman Ryan McMahon. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. flied out, but Alejandro Kirk doubled to left field to score Clement for a 1-0 lead. Kazuma Okamoto then crushed his 14th home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field that scored Kirk and made it 3-0.

The Blue Jays added to their lead in the second inning. After Myles Straw and Davis Schneider grounded out, Andrés Giménez was hit by a pitch. Springer followed with a two-run homer to left field, his sixth of the year, scoring Giménez and extending Toronto’s lead to 5-0. The Yankees failed to mount a threat in the first three innings, managing only two walks and one single while leaving three runners on base.

New York finally broke through in the fifth inning. J.C. Escarra led off with a double to center field. Trent Grisham grounded out, moving Escarra to third, and Ben Rice walked. Paul Goldschmidt then hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Escarra to make it 5-1. Cody Bellinger followed with a two-run home run to right field, his 10th of the season, cutting the deficit to 5-3. After Jazz Chisholm Jr. struck out, the Yankees had pulled within two runs.

But Toronto answered immediately in the bottom of the fifth. Springer walked, advanced to second on Clement’s groundout, and scored on Guerrero’s double to left field, pushing the lead to 6-3. Kirk then singled to right field, driving in Guerrero to make it 7-3. After Okamoto grounded into a force out and Nathan Lukes struck out, the Blue Jays had reclaimed a four-run advantage.

The Yankees again responded in the sixth inning. Spencer Jones walked, and José Caballero doubled to left field, putting runners at second and third. McMahon struck out, and Amed Rosario grounded out. Grisham then lined a two-run single to center field, scoring Jones and Caballero to trim the lead to 7-5. Rice flied out to end the inning, and New York trailed by two.

Toronto added a crucial insurance run in the eighth inning against Yankees reliever Brent Headrick, who pitched ⅔ of an inning, allowing one hit and no earned runs. After Yohendrick Piñango struck out and Giménez grounded out, Springer walked. Clement doubled to right field, scoring Springer and making it 8-5. Guerrero was called out on strikes to end the inning.

The Yankees threatened in the seventh, loading the bases with two outs on a single by Goldschmidt, a walk to Chisholm, and a single by Caballero, but McMahon flied out sharply to center field to end the inning. New York went quietly in the ninth, going down in order as Goldschmidt struck out, Bellinger grounded out and Chisholm was called out on strikes.

Key offensive performers included Caballero, who went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk; Goldschmidt, who went 1-for-4 with an RBI; and Grisham, who drove in two runs. For Toronto, Clement had two hits including a double and an RBI, Springer had a two-run homer and drew two walks, and Kirk had two hits and an RBI. Okamoto homered and drove in two.

The game lasted 2 hours, 51 minutes.

The victory gave Toronto a split of the four-game season series thus far, with the teams having split the previous four meetings at Yankee Stadium in May. New York had won three of its last four games entering Friday, including a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Guardians earlier in the week. Toronto had dropped two of three to the Philadelphia Phillies before Friday’s win.

Both teams continue the series Saturday and Sunday at Rogers Centre. New York then returns home to host the Chicago White Sox for three games starting Tuesday, while Toronto travels to Boston for a three-game set beginning Tuesday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of New York 5, Toronto 4. Its ELO system gave the Yankees a 55 percent probability to win. New York was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The combined total of 13 runs went under the over-under line of 8.