TORONTO - Phil Hughes picked up his first win of the season with six strong innings Sunday as the New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2.
Curtis Granderson drove in three runs, including two with a double in New York's four-run fourth.
It was the second successive win for the Yankees (55-37) over the Blue Jays (47-49) to salvage a split in the four-game series.
The Yankees pounded Carlos Villanueva (5-2) for eight hits and five runs in six innings in the right-hander's 10th start of 2011 after starting the season in the bullpen.
Hughes (1-2) was making his fifth start of the season and his second since coming off a three-month stint on the disabled list because of shoulder inflammation.
He held the Blue Jays to four hits, two walks and two runs while striking out five in his longest start of the season. He was put on the DL on April 15 after three unsuccessful starts in which he did not go longer than 4 1-3 innings.
Jason Frasor pitched the ninth to surpass Duane Ward for the Jays' record for all-time appearances by a pitcher at 453. Frasor gave up a run on Granderson's single that scored Brett Gardner from second.
The Yankees loaded the bases in the first inning but scored only once with Nick Swisher's single that plated Gardner. Gardner stole second, Mark Teixeira walked and Robinson Cano singled to load them up for Swisher.
Edwin Encarnacion led off the bottom of the inning with a double and scored on a single to left by Travis Snider to tie the game 1-1.
Yankees took the lead for good with four runs in the fourth. Swisher led off with a single and scored on a one-out double from Russell Martin of Chelsea, Que.
Eduardo Nunez singled and Ramiro Pena hit a sacrifice fly. Gardner singled before Granderson doubled in two more runs.
The Blue Jays answered with one in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Hill that brought home Encarnacion.
Cano's sacrifice fly to score Granderson in the seventh bumped New York's lead to 6-2.
