Toronto Blue Jays starter Shawn Marcum threw 93 pitches Wednesday night, which was one pitch too many.

Alex Rodriguez's two-run double off Marcum highlighted a four-run seventh inning as the hometown New York Yankees rallied for a 6-1 victory over the visiting Blue Jays in front of 52,147 fans at Yankee Stadium.

Alex Rodriguez doubles in two runs in Wednesday's 6-1 Yankees victory.
(Kathy Willens/Associated Press)

Marcum (5-4) limited New York to two hits over six scoreless innings, but Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu opened the seventh with back-to-back singles to bring up Rodriguez, who delivered both runners with a double that rolled to the wall in left field.

"It's hard to be perfect for 100 pitches," Marcum said. "They made me pay when I made mistakes."

"He is explosive," Yankees manager Joe Torre said of A-Rod. "He's going to give you something to talk about."

Andy Phillips provided some insurance later in the inning with a two-run single off reliever Brandon League. 

Marcum duelled magnificently with New York starter and future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens, who scattered nine hits with three strikeouts and one walk over six innings.

Clemens, who won consecutive Cy Young Awards in his two seasons with Toronto, stranded runners in every inning but the second and trailed only 1-0 when relieved by Scott Proctor.  

"I continue to try to show Joe that I can get out of my messes," Clemens said. "It was a day when my body didn't help me that much.

"I didn't have as much energy as I normally do. I'm not young, and the training that I'm doing now is for October and I think these guys know that."

Clemens is 23-12 lifetime in 48 starts versus the Blue Jays, who left 13 runners on base in the loss. 

"He can still make big pitches at the right time," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.

Mike Myers (1-0) was credited with the win in relief and Mariano Rivera registered the final five outs for his fourth save in five days and 15th save of the season.

"We have to do whatever it takes," Rivera said.

Yankees keep Red Sox in sight  

New York has won five consecutive games and 11 of its last 14 to close within seven games of the front-running Boston Red Sox atop the American League East Division.

Toronto has fallen 11 games off the pace.

"We need to make something out of this run," Torre said.

"There is definitely a positive outlook for us," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez, who leads the major leagues with 32 home runs and 92 runs batted in, has driven in five runs in the series for the resurgent Yankees (48-44).

Phillips has four RBIs through the first three games.

Although Melky Cabrera's hitting streak ended at a career-high 13 games, Hideki Matsui stroked a pair of singles to extend his streak to a season-high 13.

"Playing this team, you let them mill around a little bit [and] they are going to make you pay," Blue Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay said. "You have to get the runs when you have the opportunities."

Alex Rios went 4-for-5 at the plate and Troy Glaus drove in the lone run for the Blue Jays (45-49), losers of three in a row.

Reed Johnson and Aaron Hill had two hits apiece.

Toronto took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as Rios tripled off the base of the wall in left-centre field and, one out later, scored easily when Glaus lined a single to centre. 

After New York's four-run outburst in the seventh inning, the Yankees closed out the scoring on RBI singles from Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano in the eighth.

"They're on a roll right now," Gibbons said. "They weren't going to stay down all year."

With files from Sports Network