TORONTO _ On a day the Yankees rotation got some bad news and found itself in need of a boost, CC Sabathia provided one.
Later, Miguel Andujar did the same for the offense.
The veteran pitcher, who gave a turn-back-the-clock performance, and the rookie third baseman, who clocked his first career grand slam, were an impressive combination Tuesday night in leading the Yankees to a 7-2 victory over the Blue Jays in front of 29,308 at Rogers Centre.
The Yankees, who also received a three-run homer from Aaron Hicks in the eighth that provided some late breathing room, improved to 30-9 since their 9-9 start to the season.
Sabathia, taking the mound a few hours after the Yankees announced left-hander Jordan Montgomery would be lost for the season, and perhaps the next one, too, to undergo Tommy John surgery, allowed two runs and three hits, including two solo homers, over seven innings, which matched a season-high.
The 37-year-old Sabathia entered the night 2-1 with a 3.73 ERA, but 0-1 with a 7.85 ERA over his previous four starts. Tuesday he resembled the pitcher who started the season 2-0 with a 1.39 ERA his first six starts.
Blue Jays leadoff man Teoscar Hernandez broke a scoreless tie in the sixth, his one-out blast that hugged the left-field line but stayed fair giving him nine homers and Toronto a 1-0 lead.
But after Gary Sanchez singled to lead off the seventh against Marco Estrada, right-hander Seunghwan Oh came on to face Didi Gregorius. The shortstop fell behind 0-and-1, then was hit on the left foot as he squared to bunt.
That brought up Hicks, who worked a walk to load the bases for Andujar, who jumped on a first-pitch cutter and sent it in the second deck in left, his seventh homer making it 4-1.
The 23-year-old Andujar, who put a hammerlock on the third base job after Brandon Drury went to the DL early in the season, entered the night leading all big-league rookies in average (.299), slugging percentage (.524) and extra-base hits (28). The numbers included hitting .354 (23-for-65) with eight doubles, three homers, nine RBIs and 11 runs in his previous 17 games.
Kevin Pillar got one back in the bottom half with a homer that cut Toronto's deficit to 4-2. Hicks' sent a three-run shot to right off lefty Aaron Loup with two outs in the eighth to make it 7-2.
The Blue Jays (26-34), losers of 17 of their last 23, finished with three hits.
Their first came with one out in the first when Yangervis Solarte, a former Yankee, singled. But Sabathia quickly settled, retiring 15 of the next 16 batters, with Hernandez snapping the hitless stretch with his homer in the sixth.
