NEW YORK _ Dellin Betances had the pulse of Yankees Universe in mind, talking about his selection to the All-Star Game.
"Thank God the players voted last week," Betances said of the process that put him on the AL team for a fourth straight year, despite his recent struggles as the Yankees' setup man. "I had a tough couple of games."
Undeterred, manager Joe Girardi put Betances right back into a high-leverage situation on Monday night, and the right-hander _ with a little help by catcher Gary Sanchez _ came through at Yankee Stadium.
Betances held a one-run lead in the eighth, and the Yankees broke it open in the bottom half for a 6-3 victory against the struggling Blue Jays.
After fellow All-Stars Aaron Judge (single) and Sanchez (double) and potential All-Star Didi Gregorius (walk) loaded the bases to start the ninth, Chase Headley doubled in two runs to open a four-run frame. Aroldis Chapman handed back two runs in the ninth.
Before the game, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman offered an endorsement of Headley, saying that he's his third baseman.
Tanaka (7-7) pitched seven strong innings, charged with one run on five hits and a walk. He struck out eight Blue Jays and won his second straight start, after having gone winless from May 14-June 23.
It was Tanaka's first win at Yankee Stadium since he beat the Blue Jays back on May 2.
Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman (8-5) steadied after a shaky first inning, giving up two runs _ scoring on Headley's bases-loaded hit by pitch and a walk to Jacoby Ellsbury.
But the Yanks couldn't get anything else going against Stroman, who lasted just five innings and appeared to have been dealing with a blister problem on his pitching hand.
Betances's issues have been with command, mostly with the curveball.
Inheriting a 2-1 lead, Betances entered the eighth by striking out Jose Bautista. But he walked Josh Donaldson on a close 3-and-2 curveball that buckled the former MVP's knees; plate umpire Jerry Meals saw it as just high.
But Betances rebounded to strike out Justin Smoak with Donaldson running and Sanchez threw a one-hop strike to second, where Headley _ on the shift- put down a terrific, quick tag. Betances roared and pounded his glove, rare for him, as he exited the mound and entered into a conversation with Meals.
Before the game, Betances said he was thrilled by being voted an All-Star again by his peers.
"For them to vote me in, that's always an honor for me. It's my fourth time, I'm thrilled. Obviously we've got a week left before the All-Star Game and I'm going to try to get back on track.
"It's an honor going with some of these guys that were in Triple-A last year," Betances said of his teammates Sanchez, Judge and Luis Severino. "This is the first year that I've gone that we've had probably more than two or three players. It's going to be fun and I can't wait."
Tanaka entered the game having yielded 21 home runs this year, tied for fourth-most among all MLB pitchers. But for the third straight start, Tanaka did not surrender a homer -the first time this year he's compiled such a streak.
And despite a single by Bautista to start the game, Tanaka _ who entered with a 9.00 ERA in the first inning of his 2017 starts _ kept the Jays off the board, striking out Donaldson and getting Smoak to rap into a double play.
Tanaka stranded Smoak after a leadoff double in the fourth, but his greatest escape came in the seventh.
After Ezequiel Carrera was hit by a pitch, stole second _ moving up on Sanchez's throwing error _ and scored on Darwin Barney's soft RBI single, Tanaka's glovework helped him maintain a 2-1 lead.
Tanaka stabbed Luke Maile's hot, head-high comebacker ticketed for a game-tying single to center field and turned it into the third out.
