New York @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 27, 2010 ) NY Yankees 5, Toronto 7

Kyle Drabek has the opportunity to earn his first major-league victory against one of the most storied franchises in baseball.

His opponents hope career win No. 1 can wait until next season.

Drabek leads the Toronto Blue Jays into the resumption of their three-game series against the New York Yankees at the Rogers Centre. The Jays clinched a .500 record for the fourth time in five seasons with a 7-5 victory in Monday's series opener, which also gave Toronto a win in the season series against the Yankees.

Vernon Wells and John Buck had homers for Toronto, moving the team within two of surpassing the franchise mark of 245 set in 2000. Buck's next home run will make him the sixth Blue Jays player to hit 20 or more this season, led by Jose Bautista and his league-best 52.

More importantly, Monday's victory prevented the rival Yankees from both clinching a post-season berth and passing Tampa Bay atop the American League East standings.

The Rays' 4-0 loss to Baltimore kept the division race the same, with Tampa still a half-game up on New York. Tampa faces Baltimore twice more before taking on the lowly Kansas City Royals, while the Yankees play two more road games in Toronto and wrap up the season with a three-game set against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

New York, which has lost 14 of its last 21 games, will try to turn things around against Drabek (0-2).

The centerpiece in the trade that sent Roy Halladay to Philadelphia in the offseason has had his share of struggles over his first two major-league starts. He allowed three runs on nine hits over six innings in his first start, and surrendered a pair of homers over five innings in a loss to Seattle his last time out.

Drabek has a 4.91 ERA through his first taste of major-league action, and opposing batters are hitting .310 against him.

The Yankees counter with Cy Young candidate CC Sabathia (20-7), who will be making his final start of the regular season. The 30-year-old left-hander has just one victory in his last four outings, and will be looking to get back on track in time for the start of the playoffs.

Sabathia was roughed up in his last outing, charged with seven runs on 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings in a 10-3 loss to the Rays. That left him 1-2 with a no-decision since fashioning a six-game winning streak that shot him to the front of the Cy Young picture.

Sabathia is 8-3 lifetime against the Blue Jays with a 3.33 ERA over 75 2/3 innings. Surprisingly, the big southpaw has yet to face them this season – and only squared off against them once in 2009, going eight strong innings in a 3-2 victory back on May 14.