Toronto @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 6, 2014 ) NY Yankees 6, Toronto 4

The New York Yankees turn to Masahiro Tanaka as they look to break a two-game slide Tuesday at home in a series opener against Toronto. The Yankees capped a 5-4 road trip with consecutive losses at Oakland over the weekend and are only .500 over the past month, but they have won each of Tanaka's last four starts and 11 of his 13 overall. The right-hander's first major-league start resulted in a win at Toronto on April 4, when he allowed two earned runs and struck out eight in seven innings.

New York has dropped 12 of its last 17 home games but has won 13 consecutive at Yankee Stadium against the Blue Jays, tied for the longest home winning streak by any team over another since Toronto took 16 in a row at home against Baltimore between 2009-11. The Yankees are 21-8 against the Blue Jays overall since their last home loss in the series on Aug. 29, 2012. Toronto is coming off a four-game series split at Baltimore, capped by Sunday's 5-2 win behind a solid start by J.A. Happ and two RBIs from Dioner Navarro.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, SNET (Toronto), My9 (New York)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays RH Marcus Stroman (3-1, 5.18 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Masahiro Tanaka (10-1, 2.02)

Stroman is reportedly going to have roughly 60 supporters on hand at Yankee Stadium, not far from his hometown of Medford, N.Y., where he starred before attending Duke and then becoming the 22nd overall pick in the 2012 draft. The 23-year-old has three quality starts in a row since joining the rotation after allowing three runs in six innings of a loss to Minnesota on Wednesday. Stroman, who has not pitched on the road since a relief appearance at Philadelphia on May 6, has struck out 17 and walked only two in his three starts.

Tanaka is coming off his second complete game in the span of less than a month, as he let up two runs and struck out 11 in a 4-2 win at Seattle on Wednesday. He is 4-0 with a 1.21 ERA over his last four starts and has allowed just one earned run in 14 innings over his two most recent home outings. The 25-year-old entered Monday tied for the American League lead in wins and on top in both ERA and WHIP (0.94).

WALK-OFFS

1. Yankees manager Joe Girardi has 599 wins with New York.

2. The Blue Jays have won 13 of their last 16 contests on the road.

3. New York SS Derek Jeter needs two doubles to tie Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig for first place on the franchise list with 534.

PREDICTION: Yankees 4, Blue Jays 3