Recap: Blue Jays 4, Yankees 2

For four and a half innings, things couldn't have gone much better for the Yankees.

Aided by a two-run top of the fourth and a promising first time through the order by Nathan Eovaldi, the Yankees found themselves up by a pair midway through Thursday night's matchup with the Blue Jays -- and seemed like they might actually pull off a difficult series win north of the border. 

But after Josh Donaldson smoked a three-run home run to center with two out in the fifth and Troy Tulowitzki added insurance with a solo shot in the sixth, it was the Jays who left Rogers Centre with their heads held high, cruising to a 4-2 victory in the rubber game of a three-game set.

Eovaldi did not pitch poorly on the evening, but when the Blue Jays had opportunities, their big bats were able to capitalize.

The young right-hander threw a season-high 6 2/3 innings and struck out eight, allowing seven hits with a couple of walks. He looked sharp in the early-going, but ultimately, his hung splitter to Donaldson will define his outing.

And considering how well his adversary, Marcus Stroman, performed, it's easy to see why.

Stroman retired each of the last 11 Yankees he faced in an eight-inning gem, yielding just three hits for his first W of the year. Stroman made very few mistakes while keeping the ball on the ground, inducing 17 groundouts in total to go along with three K's.

His lone blip came in the fourth, when the Yankees kicked off the scoring with some hustle from their veterans.

The relatively-slow Carlos Beltran picked up an RBI by beating out a potential double play to second, and moments later, Mark Teixeira crossed home when a slider in the dirt got past catcher Russell Martin.

But the Yankees failed to plate any more in the frame, stranding runners on second and third when Starlin Castro went down swinging.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Yankees dropped their second consecutive to Toronto after taking Monday's opener. They are now 4-4, three games behind the first-place Orioles.

NEXT UP: The Yankees will try to rebound Friday at Yankee Stadium against the Mariners. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. ET. Luis Severino (0-1, 5.40 ERA) and Nathan Karns (0-1, 7.20 ERA) are your starters.