Stanton homer, unprecedented triple play help Yankees complete sweep of Blue Jays

Giancarlo Stanton hit a go-ahead homer in a four-run seventh inning and the New York Yankees pulled off a wacky triple play Thursday night in an 8-4 win over the reeling Toronto Blue Jays.

Stanton broke a 3-all tie with his 13th homer, an opposite-field, two-run shot off Anthony Castro (1-2). The triple play in the first inning marked the first time the storied Yankees franchise turned two in one year.

Chris Gittens came off the bench to drive in three runs, and Gio Urshela had three hits and scored three runs for New York, which swept the three-game series and finished 5-3 on its road trip.

"This was a big series for us," manager Aaron Boone said. "To come up here, coming off a tough weekend, to really bounce back and have some gut-check wins, come from behind and have people contributing, it was exciting."

Reese McGuire had three hits and Santiago Espinal scored twice for Toronto, which has lost four straight and six of eight. Randal Grichuk gave the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead in the sixth with an RBI single, bringing them back from a 3-0 deficit.

Later in the sixth, Aaron Judge robbed Cavan Biggio of a home run, reaching over the right-field wall to record a 358-foot out.

A few minutes later, Stanton hit his decisive homer.

"He saved two runs and I hit two runs," Stanton said. "We basically did the same thing. I let a fastball get deep and used the whole field."

Judge's catch wasn't the Yankees' only significant defensive play, as New York turned its triple play mere weeks after pulling one off May 21 against the Chicago White Sox.

Yankees starter Michael King had runners on second and third with no outs when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a tapper to King, who threw to first for the out. First baseman DJ LeMahieu then threw to shortstop Gleyber Torres at second base, with both Toronto runners in limbo.

Torres threw to catcher Gary Sanchez, who tossed to third baseman Urshela for the tag on Marcus Semien between third and home. Urshela alertly threw back to Torres, who tagged Bo Bichette as he slid into third on a close play that was reviewed.

"I called it my Houdini act," King said. "It's good luck. A little poor baserunning by them, and I'm glad I escaped it."

"We didn't do a good job on that," Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo said. "Young kids are going to make mistakes. After that, I'm proud that we regrouped and had a lead."

"Everybody got involved and played good catch," Boone said. "Who knows where that inning goes if Vladimir gets on?"

For his part, Urshela was trying to keep things simple.

"We were just trying to get an out," Urshela said. "I tagged the runner, turned around and had the opportunity to get the third out."

Blue Jays left-hander Taylor Saucedo made his major league debut and had a strikeout in one inning.