When the Yankees put their team together in the offseason and then revamped the bullpen at the trade deadline, this is probably the kind of performance they had in mind.
The biggest play of the game came from Cody Bellinger, whose throw home nailed Bo Bichette at the plate on a single to right field to prevent the tying run from scoring in the top of the sixth.
And then the bullpen, which has been a mess for much of the year, delivered three scoreless innings — with Fernando Cruz and David Bednar getting the final seven outs of a 3-1 win over Toronto that got the Yankees back to within three games of first-place Toronto in the AL East.
They also got six strong innings from Luis Gil, who walked four batters in six innings, but allowed just one run, as he continued his strong run of starts.
Mixed in with a 1:46 rain delay following the top of the sixth, the Yankees finally figured out how to beat a Blue Jays team that had won four straight games overall, as well as seven of their last eight against the Yankees.
It started when the Yankees took the lead in the bottom of the second, with some help from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., whose bat has hurt the Yankees and most of the rest of the league of late.