Toronto @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 3, 2011 ) Toronto 4, NY Yankees 6

THE STORY: Although Detroit’s Justin Verlander has seemingly removed the suspense from the AL Cy Young Award race, New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia still has plenty of lofty goals sitting in front of him. The big lefthander needs two victories to register his second consecutive 20-win season and can inch closer to that milestone Sunday when he faces the visiting Toronto Blue Jays in the finale of a three-game series. He has dominated Toronto in his career with an 11-3 record in 14 starts. Sabathia will be opposed by Blue Jays lefthander Brett Cecil, who will try to prevent a sweep.

TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, RSN, YES

PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays LH Brett Cecil (4-7, 4.51 ERA).Yankees LH CC Sabathia (18-7, 2.99 ERA).

Cecil got a no-decision last time out to stretch his winless drought to six starts (0-3). His inability to keep the ball in the park has been a bit disconcerting. Cecil has surrendered at least one home run in seven consecutive starts. He has failed to pitch at least six innings only twice this year, one of which was a 6-2 loss to the Yankees on April 20. He is 4-2 with a .482 ERA in eight career starts against New York.

Sabathia was not overly sharp in August despite a 3-2 record. He labored through six innings in beating Boston for the first time in five starts last time out, but he was also reached for 10 hits for the fourth time in his last six trips to the mound. Sabathia has beaten Toronto twice this season, including a 4-1 win on July 16. Since joining the Yankees, he’s 4-0 against the Jays and has pitched at least eight innings in each start.

ABOUT THE YANKEES (84-53): Robinson Cano is starting to build his case for AL MVP honors. Cano put New York ahead with a two-run double Saturday, extending his hitting streak to seven games and giving him RBIs in five straight. He also went over 100 RBIs for the second straight year and reached 40 doubles for the fifth time in seven seasons. Not to mention he has hit safely in 24 of 25 games and is batting a team-high .307. Alex Rodriguez returned after a six-game absence, but Mark Teixeira sat out his second straight with a bruised knee. Prized catching prospect Jesus Montero collected his first major league hit.

ABOUT THE BLUE JAYS (69-70): Toronto lost two starters during Saturday’s game when rookie Eric Thames left in the first inning after feeling dizzy and Yunel Escobar departed later with a jammed wrist. Escobar, who had 12 hits in his previous six games entering Saturday, is expected to sit out Sunday. Thames had six multi-hit games in his last eight. Dewayne Wise replaced Thames and homered and tripled. He hasn’t had a home run or triple since July 2010. Reliever Casey Janssen had his string of 14 scoreless appearances spanning 16 2/3 innings snapped when he coughed up Cano’s two-run double.

FINAL PITCH: The Yankees are 36-9 in day games this year, the best record in the major leagues. So much for the city that never sleeps.