Yankees at Blue Jays preview: Yankees need victory in series finale

New York's magic number to earn a playoff berth sits at two, as the Yankees look to split a series against the Blue Jays in Toronto Sunday at 1:07 p.m.

The Bronx Bombers are currently tied for the lead in the American League East with the Baltimore Orioles. The final few games of this season for each team will likely determine which of the two will enter the playoffs as the division winner or as one of the American League Wild Card teams. Baltimore hosts Boston at 1:35 p.m. This adds an unexpected level of intrigue the pair of late-season AL East series.

Saturday afternoon, the Yankees lost 3-2 to the Blue Jays after failing to capitalize on an early 2-0 lead. New York scored two runs in the top of the first on a pair of sacrifice flies from Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson after Derek Jeter, Ichiro Suzuki and Alex Rodriguez loaded the bases. Toronto answered though, scoring runs in the bottom of the first, fifth and sixth innings, to which New York would not respond.

Sunday afternoon, Phil Hughes (16-13, 4.10 ERA) will take the mound for New York against Toronto's Henderson Alvarez (9-14, 4.91 ERA). The game will be televised on the YES network in New York and on SN-1 and TVA Sports in Toronto.