Evan Longoria hit a goahead homer and the Tampa Bay Rays beat New York 5-2 on Tuesday night to drop the struggling Yankees into a tie for first place in the AL East.
Coupled with Baltimore's 12-0 win at Toronto, the Yankees fell into a tie for the division lead with the surging Orioles after sitting atop the standings by themselves for 84 consecutive days - New York's longest streak since 2004.
Desmond Jennings and B.J. Upton also homered for the third-place Rays, who pulled within 1 1 /2 games of the Orioles and Yankees. Tampa Bay trailed by 10 1 /2 games on July 18.
New York opened its largest lead of the year that day (10 games) but is 19-26 since. The Yankees' biggest cushion in a season in which they failed to finish first was six games in 1933.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi wasn't around to see the end of this one. He was ejected by plate umpire Tony Randazzo in the fourth inning for arguing after Chris Dickerson was called out on strikes.
Longoria hit a two-run shot off Freddy Garcia (7-6), wiping out a 2-1 deficit in the third inning.
Jennings and Upton delivered back-to-back solo shots in the fifth, giving Alex Cobb (9-8) and Tampa Bay's bullpen all the offensive support they'd need against the Yankees' sputtering lineup.
Robinson Cano matched a career high for New York with his 29th homer, a two-run shot off Cobb, who allowed four hits over seven innings.
Fernando Rodney earned his major league-best 42nd save in 44 opportunities.
ORIOLES 12, BLUE JAYS 0
TORONTO - Mark Reynolds hit a home run and drove in four runs, while left-hander Zach Britton held the Blue Jays to four hits over seven innings as the Baltimore Orioles routed Toronto 12-0.
The victory was the Orioles' 21st in their past 29 games. The Blue Jays are 9-25 since July 30.
Britton (5-1), who led the Orioles with 11 wins last season, was making his ninth start this year after opening the season on the disabled list. He struck out eight while walking two.
Toronto starter Carlos Villanueva (7-5) allowed seven hits and was charged with six runs in 6 2 /3 innings.
