Blue Jays, Yankees look to get on winning track

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(TSX / STATS) -- NEW YORK -- These are frustrating times for the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees.

The Blue Jays are on a four-game losing streak, which is the extension of an inconsistent season, while the Yankees are enduring a nearly three-week slump.

The American League East rivals would like things to change in the final week before the All-Star break, and they get their chance against each other in the opener of a three-game series Monday night at Yankee Stadium.

Toronto (37-44) has spent all season with a losing record after leaving Yankee Stadium with a 9-19 record on May 3. The Blue Jays reached one game under seven times, but since the last occasion on June 21, they are 2-8.

The Blue Jays have scored more than four runs once during the 10-game slide while batting .224 (75-for-335) with nine homers and 29 runs.

Toronto's slump continued with a weekend that hardly helped the Yankees. In three games against the first-place Boston Red Sox, the Blue Jays were outscored 29-6.

"We're not hitting, really, it's pretty obvious," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "We've been cold the last few days. It'll change."

Gibbons would like to reverse some of these numbers by key players over the past two weeks: Josh Donaldson 4-for-33 (.121) with 11 strikeouts, Russell Martin 6-for-32 (.188), Kendrys Morales 5-for-30 (.167), Jose Bautista 5-for-23 (.217) and Kevin Pillar 0-for-9.

Toronto was held to five hits on Sunday in a 15-1 loss to Boston. Steve Pearce drove in the Blue Jays' lone run on a sacrifice fly.

"We didn't play well today, we really didn't have a good series at all," Martin said. "We got outplayed. So, we've got to bounce back, head to New York, forget about this stuff and get ready for the next game."

At least the Yankees (43-37) are still over .500, but three weeks ago, they were 38-23 following a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels in the opener of a West Coast trip. Since then, they are 5-14, and the pitching staff has allowed at least five runs 11 times while pitching to a 5.28 ERA.

The latest disappointing loss was an 8-1 setback at Houston on Sunday, less than 24 hours after the Yankees blew a three-run lead in the eighth inning and were handed a 7-6 loss. The defeats capped a 3-4 road trip that saw the Yankees score 31 times in their three wins.

"I think we are in a frustrating part of our year," New York manager Joe Girardi said. "I think this week is really important at home for us and get things turned around and win games we are supposed to. Guys who are in that room, we can turn it around, and it's an important week."

Among those guys are All-Stars Aaron Judge, who was 5-for-19 (.263) on the trip, and Gary Sanchez, who went 5-for-22 (.227). The duo finished a combined 4-for-7 Sunday while the rest of the team was 2-for-25.

"Nobody is (more) disappointed how the past two weeks have gone than the guys in this room," said left fielder Brett Gardner, who was 0-for-5 and barely missed a three-run homer in the second inning Sunday. "Obviously, the last two weeks haven't gone the way we had hoped."

Marcus Stroman (8-4, 3.41 ERA) starts for the Blue Jays on Monday and hopes for a better showing in his second outing this season in New York. On May 3, despite being handed a four-run lead before taking the mound, Stroman allowed five runs and six hits in three innings during a no-decision in Toronto's 8-6 loss.

It was his shortest start of the season, and he felt some arm tightness, though it did not impact him. Since then, Stroman is 6-2 with a 3.10 ERA in 10 starts.

Stroman's last outing might have been his best, as he allowed five hits in 7 2/3 innings during a 4-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday. Stroman threw a career-high 119 pitches struck out eight. He pitched at least seven innings for the sixth time this season.

The Long Island native is 5-2 with a 2.91 ERA in 10 starts against the Yankees, though he is 2-2 with a 5.56 ERA in five starts at Yankee Stadium.

New York's Monday starter, Masahiro Tanaka (6-7, 5.56 ERA), also would like to see his positive results from recent outings become another win. The Yankees right-hander snapped an eight-game winless skid Wednesday in Chicago when he allowed two runs and six hits in six innings of a 12-3 victory over the White Sox.

Before beating the White Sox, Tanaka went from winning five consecutive starts April 14 to May 8 to going 0-6 with a 7.19 ERA in his next eight. It included a stretch in which he dropped five straight starts May 14-June 6. He became the third Yankee since 1913 to win and lose at least five straight starts in the same season, joining Bob Turley (1955) and Joe Bush (1924).

Tanaka is 7-3 with a 2.65 ERA in 11 career starts against Toronto, including a 5-2 mark and a 3.07 ERA in seven home starts vs. the Blue Jays.

He faced the Blue Jays on May 2 in New York and allowed four runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings of an 11-5 win. He gave up a pair of solo homers to Pearce while facing a lineup without Josh Donaldson, who is 3-for-21 (.143) off him.