TORONTO _ For a change, a chain of Yankees relievers didn't perform to their reliable standard.
Manager Aaron Boone's bullpen wobbled on Wednesday night and teetered on the brink, ultimately crashing as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. blasted a go-ahead homer off Zack Britton.
That eighth-inning, three-run shot sent the Blue Jays to a 11-7 victory at Rogers Centre.
And that's three straight losses for the AL East-leading Yankees, the first time it has happened since they dropped four in a row from April 8-12.
So, the combined offensive efforts of DJ LeMahieu and Gary Sanchez _ each with a home run _ were rendered footnotes.
And James Paxton's return to Canada concluded with a frustrating, early exit.
Randal Grichuk and Brandon Drury tacked on eighth-inning solo homers off Luis Cessa, assuring that the Yankees would also end their string of winning series at nine straight.
Ex-Blue Jay J.A. Happ goes for the Yankees in Thursday's finale of this three-game series, against Edwin Jackson.
Walking toward the Rogers Centre mound on Wednesday night, Paxton sure might have carried thoughts of his last start in this ballpark.
Paxton's no-hitter on May 8, 2018, with the Seattle Mariners, was accomplished in just 99 pitches against the Blue Jays.
And there was Paxton, shortly after the 27th out, holding the baseball in his right hand and proudly showing the maple leaf tattoo on his right forearm to the Canadian crowd.
None of that old magic was present for Paxton on Wednesday night.
Making his first start as a Yankee in his home country, the lefty from just outside Vancouver, didn't make it through the fifth inning.
Grichuk's first homer of the night was a two-run shot in the first inning off Paxton, charged with three earned runs in his 4 2/3 innings.
LeMahieu's go-ahead, three-run homer in the sixth inning gave the Yanks a 7-4 lead, and gave the 16,609 fans here license to catch the Raptors game.
Toronto has been gripped with Finals Fever, with their NBA franchise involved in Game 3 at Golden State on Wednesday night.
And the Yankees were still trying to shake off a bit of a cold, with some defensive miscues _ including two errors by Gio Urshela _ that contributed to Toronto's comeback.
Teoscar Hernandez's two-run double off Jonathan Holder made it a 7-6 game in the seventh, but Britton retired rookie Cavan Biggio _ with the tying run at third _ to end the inning.
The eighth didn't go as well for the lefty Britton.
Even before the bullpen melted down, Boone was visibly angry, directing his ire at first base umpire Carlos Torres.
Leading off the third inning, Brett Gardner appeared to beat out an infield hit but was called out by Torres, whose call was upheld by replay.
Having blown that challenge, Boone slammed the dugout phone and yelled out toward Torres in the Blue Jays' sixth inning, when the Yanks felt they'd completed a double play at first base.
"That's two," Boone shouted in the umpire's direction.
LeMahieu and Sanchez put their offensive stamp on this game, combining for six RBIs.
Trailing 3-0 in the fourth, Sanchez's team-leading 19th homer of the year _ in his 40th start this season _ gave the Yankees their first run off right-hander Trent Thornton.
And in a three-run fifth, RBI singles by Cameron Maybin, LeMahieu and Sanchez gave the Yanks a brief 4-3 lead.
With two on and two out in the sixth, LeMahieu (3-for-5) took Derek Law deep for a 7-4 Yanks lead.
It was LeMahieu's seventh homer of the year and it raised his batting average to .471 (24-for-51) with runners in scoring position this season.
Entering Wednesday, only the Rays' Austin Meadows (.471) and the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera (.469) had higher such batting averages in the majors this year.
