Greg Bird hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning to seal a 6-4 win for the New York Yankees over Toronto on Tuesday night and move closer to the Blue Jays in the AL East pennant race.
Bird connected off reliever Mark Lowe (1-3) for the rookie's 10th home run in 34 games and third in the past three nights.
Brian McCann led off the 10th with a bunt single and was replaced by pinch-runner Rico Noel. Slade Heathcott reached on catcher's interference before Bird drove a 2-2 pitch into the right-field bullpen. Six of his 10 homers have given the Yankees a lead.
Andrew Miller (3-2) pitched two innings for the win and New York closed within 2 1/2 games of first-place Toronto. The teams meet for the final time this season Wednesday night.
Meanwhile in Chicago, Jake Arrieta threw a three-hitter to become the first pitcher in the major leagues to reach 20 wins, Kris Bryant set the Cubs rookie record for home runs and Chicago inched closer to a playoff berth with a 4-0 victory over the Brewers.
Arietta (20-6) struck out 11 for Chicago, whose magic number for making its first postseason in seven years dropped to three.
The right-hander retired 14 in a row at one point in becoming the first Cubs pitcher to win 20 games since Jon Lieber in 2001.
Bryant, whose April 17 debut was one of the most anticipated in years, hit a two-run homer in the third off Tyler Cravy (0-8) to give Chicago a 2-0 lead. It was Bryant's 26th longball, besting Billy Williams' mark in 1961. Bryant added a run-scoring double in the eighth.
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