twins/mlb

Final Score: Toronto 8, New York 1

Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - J.P. Arencibia, Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista and Kelly Johnson all homered for the Toronto Blue Jays in an 8-1 victory over the New York Yankees.

Toronto starter Kyle Drabek (3-4) was solid in seven innings of work, giving up one run on three hits. The young right-hander fanned five and walked four in the opener of this brief two-game series.

Prior to the game, Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie received a four-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for his aggressive actions toward umpire Bill Miller during Tuesday's game against the Rays. Lawrie's tirade included throwing his helmet in Miller's vicinity. Lawrie, who elected to appeal the suspension, went 0-for-4 with a run scored on Wednesday.

Mark Teixeira knocked in the lone run for the Yankees, who have lost three of four.

"He kept the ball on the ground tonight and that's what he is, a groundball pitcher," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi about Drabek. "It seems like we weren't able to lay off the sinkers that were out of the zone and he took advantage of that."

Hiroki Kuroda (3-5) continued to struggle on the road this season, allowing seven runs on eight hits over five-plus frames. The right-hander fell to 0-4 away from the Bronx.

Arencibia got Toronto's home run parade started in the second inning. Encarnacion led off with an infield single and crossed the plate two outs later on Arencibia's blast to left-center field.

Encarnacion added a three-run homer in the third to make it 5-0. With two outs, Eric Thames doubled and Bautista walked. Encarnacion stepped to the plate and smacked Kuroda's offering over the wall in center.

"It was a good offensive night up and down the lineup," said Blue Jays manager John Farrell.

New York's first hit of the game didn't come until the fourth, when Raul Ibanez hit a two-out single.

But the Blue Jays tacked on another run in the bottom half of the frame to increase their margin. Arencibia doubled and Omar Vizquel walked to put men on first and second with two outs. Johnson followed with an RBI single to left.

Bautista's solo homer to left in the fifth made it a 7-0 game.

The Yankees finally got on the board in the sixth. Robinson Cano doubled down the right-field line with one out and scored two batters later on Teixeira's single, which bounced over the glove of first baseman Encarnacion. Ibanez flied out to keep it 7-1.

Johnson's solo homer to right in the seventh made it an 8-1 contest.

Luis Perez and Francisco Cordero pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively, to seal the victory.

Game Notes

New York went 11-7 against Toronto a year ago...Kuroda fanned six and walked two in his first career outing against the Blue Jays...Drabek improved to 1-2 in five career games, four of which have been starts, against the Yankees...Arencibia and Encarnacion each had three hits.