Yankees get rain-shortened win over Blue Jays

The Yankees beat the Blue Jays, 7-5, in a rain-shortened game at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.

NEW YORK — Mother Nature was on the Yankees’ side for once.

Rain that started early held off until the Yankees reclaimed the lead and forced the end of the game after seven innings and one out.

The final: Yankees 7, Blue Jays 5.

The rain came after Lance Lynn suffered his worst outing so far with the Yankees, who traded for him before the deadline, lasting just four innings and giving up five earned runs.

A middle-innings rally, with Giancarlo Stanton’s 31st home run of the season as the cherry on top, put them on top.

Rain delay

Action was delayed at 9:41 p.m. due to rain. Once it started to come down hard, umpires had the tarp brought out. It ended at 11:26 p.m..

The Yankees have endured a bunch of rain delays and postponements this season.

What it means

The Yankees snapped a two-game losing streak. They improved to 76-46. Fourth-place Toronto fell to 55-67.

The Yankees started the day 10 1/2 games back of the dominant Red Sox in the American League East. New York was only ahead of Oakland by three games in the race to host the Wild Card.

Taking the lead

The Yankees grabbed the lead with the kind of small ball that’s been missing from their lineup lately. Aaron Hicks started the fifth inning with a walk. With an out, Miguel Andujar singled to right field, putting runners on the corners for Gleyber Torres.

Torres hit a routine grounder to shortstop, where Toronto tried to turn a double play. They got the first out at second base but Torres beat it out to first. Hicks scored. It was 6-5 Yankees.

The Blue Jays had tied things, 5-all, when Devon Travis singled home Curtis Granderson from second base in the inning’s top half. Walker’s throw was just short of home plate and catcher Austin Romine set up behind the plate to receive it. Granderson was safe by about a step and a half.

Stanton’s home-run went 435 feet — well over the Yankees’ bullpen and even into the second-deck bar.

Falling behind early

Lynn’s rough night started right away. With rain hammering the stadium, Lynn got hammered, surrendering four runs on two hits and three walks. The first four batters the right-hander faced reached base. It took him 37 pitches to finish the frame, which was highlighted by Aledmys Diaz’s two-run single that made it 4-zip.

Kendrys Morales and Kevin Pillar each contributed run-scoring singles, though Pillar’s was a bloop that fell just in front of a sliding Neil Walker in right field.

The Yankees would close the gap to within two runs quickly. In the inning’s bottom half, Didi Gregorius stroked a triple to left-center field that brought home Aaron Hicks, who had walked. Gregorius hit a hard liner, but center fielder Pillar — usually so good defensively — completely misplayed it, and it bounced to the wall.

IN the next at-bat, Miguel Andujar stroked a double to right-center, bringing home Gregorius easily to make it 4-2.

In the fourth, the Yankees stormed back, thanks to the resurgent Walker. His three-run shot landed deep in the right-center field seats and on a line. He pointed at the Yankees’ dugout as he jogged up the first-base line. That gave the Yankees a 5-4 lead, scoring Torres (double down the left-field line) and Bird (10-pitch walk).

Next

Yankees righty Luis Severino (15-6, 3.27 ERA) vs. Blue Jays righty Sean Reid-Foley (0-1, 5.40 ERA) at 1:05 p.m. Saturday at Yankee Stadium.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.