New York Yankees pitcher Darrell Rasner walks to the dugout after the fourth inning of play against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto Monday, Sept. 18, 2006. (AP PHOTO/CP, Aaron Harris)
TORONTO - Darrell Rasner had his toughest outing of the year, but was still able to win again for the New York Yankees.
The 1999 Carson High graduate allowed three runs over six innings to improve to 3-0 as the Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-6 on Monday.
The Yankees moved closer to clinching the AL East but saw just how much they need closer Mariano Rivera.
Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez hit two-run homers and the Yankees survived a late Toronto rally by using four relievers in the ninth inning.
New York reduced its magic number to clinching the AL East for a ninth straight season to three. The Yankees could wrap up the division title during the seven-game road trip to Toronto and Tampa Bay.
Rasner (3-0) won on three days' rest, allowing three runs and six hits over six innings. Rasner started in place of Cory Lidle, who has tendinitis in his right index finger.
"It was a struggle throughout, but I got through it," Rasner said.
On Thursday, Rasner needed just 45 pitchers to pitch four scoreless innings in picking up the win in a 7-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
But he needed 28 pitches to get through the first inning after loading the bases before recording an out. The right-hander managed to pull a Houdini act, getting Lyle Overbay and Troy Glaus to pop out before striking out Bengie Molina to end the inning.
Rasner ended up throwing 107 pitches. He has now allowed four runs over 17.2 innings in four appearances for the Yankees for a 2.09 earned run average.
Rivera, one of baseball's best closers of all-time, has been sidelined since Aug. 31 by a muscle strain near his right elbow.
How much he is missed was apparent in that ninth inning when Toronto scored three runs to get within one and had a runner on base when the last out was finally recorded.
Rivera is scheduled for another bullpen session today and could be pitching in games by Friday.
Jeter hit a two-run homer, his 14th, off A.J. Burnett (8-8) in the seventh inning to give New York a 4-3 lead.
The Yankees added three runs in the ninth but Toronto matched that in the bottom half, forcing New York to use four pitchers in the final inning. Jose Veras got the last out for the first save of his career.
Rodriguez hit a two-run homer in the sixth, his 34th this season and the 463rd of his career - moving him into sole possession of 29th place on the all-time list, two behind former Yankee Dave Winfield. The home run brought the Yankees within 3-2.
Burnett allowed four runs and seven hits over seven innings as the Blue Jays had a four-game winning streak snapped.
Reed Johnson's RBI single in the second gave Toronto a 1-0 lead. Run-scoring doubles by John McDonald and Johnson in the fourth made it 3-0.
New York got three runs in the ninth on Bernie Williams' RBI grounder, Bobby Abreu's RBI single and Andy Phillips' walk with the bases loaded.
Troy Glaus hit a three-run homer off Octavio Dotel - his 35th of the season and sixth against the Yankees - to make it 7-6.