Toronto @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 15, 2019 ) NY Yankees 4, Toronto 6

Having wrapped up their first American League East title since 2012 courtesy of their 100th win of the season on Thursday, the New York Yankees still have some unfinished business. New York resumes its bid for home-field advantage in the playoffs when it hosts the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday for the opener of its final home series of the regular season.

DJ LeMahieu provided the Yankees with all the offense they needed, extending his hitting streak to seven games with an early three-run homer in Thursday's 9-1 division-clinching win over the Los Angeles Angels. Brett Gardner has hit safely in six straight contests as he launched his his eighth homer of the month to boost his career-best total to 26. New York, which trails Houston by one-half game for the AL's best record, is 19-0-3 over its last 22 series at home, but the Blue Jays won two of three against the Yankees in Toronto last weekend. Cava Biggio went 8-for-16 with two homers and eight RBIs while fellow rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was 6-for-14 as the Blue Jays registered a three-game sweep in Baltimore to push their winning streak to four contests.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, Sportsnet (Toronto), WPIX (New York)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays RH Jacob Waguespack (4-5, 4.70 ERA) vs. Yankees LH J.A. Happ (12-8, 5.07)

Waguespack appears to have hit the wall down the stretch, losing his fourth consecutive start last weekend against the Yankees after allowing three runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. It marked the fourth straight outing in which he has yielded one homer and failed to work more than 4 1/3 frames, watching his ERA rise by more than a full run in that span from 3.63 to 4.70. Waguespack also faced the Yankees in relief on Aug. 10 and was reached for three runs - two homers - in 3 2/3 innings.

Happ will return to the rotation after getting some extra rest while battling biceps tendinitis, which he said had been bothering him for nearly a month. A 20-game winner with Toronto in 2016, the 36-year-old is 3-2 in six starts since being roughed up by his former team for six runs and four hits over five innings in Toronto on Aug. 9 to fall to 1-2 with a 4.67 ERA in three starts versus the Blue Jays this season. Randal Grichuk is 3-for-8 with a homer and Brandon Drury 3-for-7 against Happ this year.

WALK-OFFS

1. Yankees RHP Domingo German, an 18-game winner, was placed on administrative leave under baseball's joint policy on domestic violence.

2. Blue Jays OF Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has gone 8-for-21 with a pair of homers during his five-game hitting streak.

3. New York has hit a franchise-record 292 home runs after belting four on Thursday.

PREDICTION: Yankees 7, Blue Jays 4