Rookie Ricky Romero and Blue Jays stop streaking Yankees 7-6

Romero and Blue Jays stop streaking Yankees 7-6

NEW YORK — Ricky Romero extended his scoreless streak to 24 innings before Eric Hinske homered in his Yankees debut, and the Toronto Blue Jays held on to beat New York 7-6 Monday and avoid getting swept in a four-game series.

Alex Rios hit a three-run homer in the third inning off Andy Pettitte (8-4), John McDonald homered leading off the seventh and Scott Rolen extended his career-best hitting streak to 23 games with a two-run double in the seventh against an ineffective Brian Bruney.

That built a 7-1 lead, just enough offense for Romero (7-3) to win his fourth straight start. The 24-year-old rookie left-hander allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings. He tied the franchise rookie record for consecutive shutout innings set by Mark Eichhorn in 1986 before Hinske homered in the fifth.

Brandon League allowed Nick Swisher’s two-run single in the seventh before striking out Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez. Jason Frasor relieved with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth, walked Derek Jeter and on the next pitch retired Swisher on a flyout.

Frasor finished for his third save in five chances, giving up a two-out, two-run single to pinch-hitter Hideki Matsui in the ninth before striking out Hinske on 3-2 pitch.

Toronto (43-41) won for just the second time in nine games and avoided dropping to .500 for the first time since the Blue Jays were 59-59 before play on Aug. 12 last year. The Yankees lost for just the second time in 12 games as they headed on the road for a trip to Minnesota and the Los Angeles Angels that closes the first half.

Pettitte gave up six runs, five hits and five walks in six-plus innings, dropping to 18-12 against Toronto. Twelve of the 14 homers allowed by Pettitte this year have been at home.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi was ejected by umpire Marty Foster in the first inning after Jeter was caught stealing third. Replays showed Jeter appeared to reach around Rolen’s tag attempt and touch the base.

The ejection was the 10th of Girardi’s career, his seventh as a manager and fifth as Yankees manager. He also was tossed May 4 against Boston and June 24 at Atlanta.

Toronto started an all right-handed-hitting batting order for only the second time this season, according to STATS LLC. The other was May 14 against the Yankees’ CC Sabathia. Vernon Wells, dropped to sixth in the first three games of the series, was moved back to third and had three hits.

Rod Barajas drove in the first run with a second-inning single that bounced off the yellow stripe marking the foul line on the right-field wall.

Rios made it 4-0 in the third when he sent a 90 mph pitch into the first row of the left-field seats, ending a streak of nine straight homers to right field at Yankee Stadium.

Hinske, who won the AL Rookie of the Year with Toronto in 2002, started in right field and caught a fly by Marco Scutaro on the first pitch of the game. Hinske, acquired six days earlier from Pittsburgh, turned around and flexed his biceps when the Bleacher Creatures shouted his name during roll call.

He made a diving backhand catch on Wells’ sinking liner to end the first, and homered off the right-field foul poll in the fifth.

NOTES: RHP Sergio Mitre appears to be the leading contender to start for New York on Thursday at Minnesota in place of injured RHP Chien-Ming Wang. After serving a 50-game suspension at the start of the season following a positive drug test, the 28-year-old Mitre has gone 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA at Class A Tampa and 2-1 with a 3.26 ERA in five starts at Triple-A Scranton. … The Yankees ran out of $5 senior citizen tickets and let about 170 seniors sit in $375 seats on the field level for the $5 price, spokesman Jason Zillo said. … Teixeira has not homered in 84 at-bats since June 12 against the Mets’ Livan Hernandez. … Rodriguez was back at third base after getting Sunday off and went 1 for 4.