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TORONTO (AP) — Matched up against the Blue Jays for the second time in a week, Chase Whitley had the worst start of his short career.
Adam Lind hit a three-run home run in his return to the starting lineup, Marcus Stroman won for the first time in three starts and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Whitley and New York 8-3 on Monday night, handing the Yankees their third straight loss.
Whitley (3-1) lost for the first time in eight big league starts and in six road outings, giving up season highs of eight runs and 11 hits in 3 1-3 innings, his shortest of the season. He walked three and struck out two.
"I couldn't command the ball at all, like I have been in the past," Whitley said. "I got away from the game plan."
Whitley had won his three previous outings and hadn't allowed more than three runs in any of his seven starts, but ran into trouble early as the Blue Jays led 7-0 after two innings.
"When he made a mistake, they hit it hard," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, "and when he made a good pitch, they seemed to find a hole with it. It was the combination of that. It was a tough start for him."
Lind drove in four runs and Dioner Navarro had two RBIs for the AL East-leading Blue Jays, who scored as many runs in this game against New York as they managed over three games while being swept at Yankee Stadium last week.
Mark Teixeira homered off Stroman in the fourth for New York's only run. The Yankees, who lost 8-0 to Baltimore Sunday, have scored just four runs during their three-game skid, two of them on solo homers by Teixeira. They did not put a runner in scoring position until the ninth inning against the Blue Jays.
Girardi said he hasn't lost faith in his lineup despite the recent run of meager production.
"The last three days we've struggled a little bit but tomorrow's a new day," Girardi said.
New York averaged more than five runs per game in the five contests before this skid, and Girardi said more dependable production is a must.
"We have to become more consistent," Girardi said. "That's one thing that we have to do."
Stroman (4-2) allowed one run and three hits in a career-high eight innings. He walked one and matched a career high with seven strikeouts.
"It was a fantastic job," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.
Lind started for the first time since June 14 at Baltimore, when he fouled a ball off his right foot and sustained a bone bruise. He had made three pinch hit appearances since.
Lind hit an RBI single in the first, then added the big blow in Toronto's six-run, 10-batter second. Jose Reyes drove in a run with a bases-loaded fielder's choice, Melky Cabrera hit an RBI single and Navarro capped the inning with a two-out RBI double.
"That gave us a little breathing room and guys could relax," said Gibbons, whose team had lost 11 of its previous 15.
Teixeira's two-out blast in the fourth cut it to 7-1, but the Blue Jays answered in the bottom half when Navarro ended Whitley's outing with an RBI single.
New York's Yangervis Solarte came on defensively in the eighth and snapped an 0 for 28 slump with an RBI single off Chad Jenkins in the ninth. Kelly Johnson added an RBI double before Aaron Loup came on and finished it by getting Brian Roberts to fly out.
NOTES: Teixeira started after leaving Sunday's game when he was hit on the left foot by a pitch. ... Toronto OF Jose Bautista (left hamstring) did not start. Bautista left Sunday's loss at Cincinnati and had an MRI Monday. ... The Blue Jays placed 3B Brett Lawrie (broken right index finger) on the 15-day DL, optioned C Erik Kratz to Triple-A Buffalo and recalled outfielders Anthony Gose and Kevin Pillar from Triple-A. Lawrie is expected to miss three to six weeks. ... New York LH CC Sabathia (right knee) will throw a 35-pitch session at the team's spring training facility in Tampa on Tuesday. ... Yankees SS Derek Jeter got a scheduled day off. ... New York RH David Phelps (3-4) faces Toronto LH Mark Buehrle (10-4) on Tuesday.
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