NEW YORK -- David Phelps put his pitches in all the right places against a struggling team that was stuck in the wrong spot. Phelps threw seven strong innings, Carlos Beltran drove in two runs and the New York Yankees beat Toronto 6-4 Thursday night for their 16th consecutive home win over the Blue Jays. "Everything was a little bit crisper today," Phelps said. "I was able to be aggressive the entire game." Jacoby Ellsbury stole two bases, scored twice and hit one of three early sacrifice flies for the Yankees off Drew Hutchison. New York swiped four bags in all and scratched out its fifth run when Brett Gardner was going as Derek Jeter hit an RBI groundout -- preventing an inning-ending double play. Phelps (3-4) yielded two runs and struck out seven in winning his second straight outing after a four-start skid. The Yankees earned their first three-game sweep at home this season and sliced Torontos lead in the AL East to 1 1/2 games. "Big series for us," reliever Adam Warren said after New York won for the seventh time in nine games. "Its nice to kind of see our team click a little bit and play some good baseball." Citing research by the Elias Sports Bureau, the Yankees said the winning streak against Toronto is their longest at home against one team since a 19-game run vs. Cleveland from June 1960 to April 1962. Melky Cabrera and Edwin Encarnacion each hit a two-run homer for the Blue Jays, who have lost nine of 12 and were swept for the first time since Sept. 10-12 last season by the Los Angeles Angels. Toronto has dropped 25 of 27 at Yankee Stadium dating to 2011 and hasnt won in the Bronx since Aug. 29, 2012. "Hey, if youre going to play in prime time, youve got to perform on the big stage and we didnt do it," manager John Gibbons said. "Were fully capable of doing it. We just didnt do it. Itll be definitely good to move on." With closer David Robertson receiving a rest, Warren got two outs for his second save -- ending a rhythm-less game that took 3 hours, 47 minutes. Gibbons was on the field five times in the first six innings for four discussions with the umpires, plus a pitching change. Phelps equaled his career high with 115 pitches and finished strong. He retired pinch-hitter Adam Lind with two on to end the sixth and then struck out two in a perfect seventh. "We really pushed him tonight," manager Joe Girardi said. "He did a great job." The right-hander was fired up, too, clenching his fist and yelling after freezing Jose Reyes for strike three with his final delivery. Phelps made a key defensive play to protect a one-run lead in the fifth. He got Reyes on a soft grounder with the infield in, pinning a runner at third, and then knocked down Cabreras two-out comebacker. Phelps whirled around and scrambled to find the ball near the front of the mound, then zipped a throw to first just in time. "I knew that it went down. I knew it wasnt going to be far away, I just had to get my eyes on it," Phelps said. "Straight scramble mode as soon as it hit me." Cabrera tripped awkwardly over the bag and tumbled hard to the turf, but appeared to be fine. Phelps also picked off Cabrera at second base with two runners on in the first inning and Encarnacion at the plate. Phelps and Girardi both called it the biggest play of the game. "The way our teams been playing right now, its exciting baseball," Phelps said. Encarnacion hit his 21st homer in the eighth, a long drive to left off Shawn Kelley that cut it to 6-4. Yankees hitters ran up Hutchisons pitch count early, just as they did against fellow youngster Marcus Stroman in the series opener. Kelly Johnson had a sacrifice fly in the second and Beltran added one in the third. Making his Yankee Stadium debut, Hutchison (5-5) threw 38 pitches in the second inning and needed 76 to get through three. He was pulled in the fifth trailing 3-2. "Youve got to make better pitches," Hutchison said. "When I got ahead I didnt make good pitches to put them away, and I fell behind quite a bit, too." Beltran hit an RBI double off Aaron Loup, and Brian Roberts stole two bases in the sixth before scoring on Jeters groundout. Steve Delabar walked three in the seventh, including Yangervis Solarte with the bases loaded to make it 6-2. NOTES: Toronto has seven more games scheduled at Yankee Stadium this year. The Blue Jays return on July 25. ... Lind had been sidelined since leaving Saturdays game in Baltimore with a bruised right foot. ... Lights-out Yankees reliever Dellin Betances was unavailable after pitching three scoreless innings in the first two games of the series, Girardi said. ... Johnson was shaken up and removed after the ball hit his left hand when he fouled off a bunt in the sixth. Solarte pinch-hit with a full count and struck out. X-rays on Johnson were negative and he is day to day with bruised fingers. Ultra Boost Cheap Canada . Golden States second straight road win wasnt painless. David Lee scored a season-high 29 points -- 13 in the fourth quarter -- and Nate Robinson added 17 points, leading the Warriors to a 105-95 win Tuesday night over the road-worn Cleveland Cavaliers. NMD R2 Sale Canada . In a pregame tribute commemorating his final contest at Coors Field on Wednesday night, Helton caught the ceremonial first pitch from his daughter with his wife, younger daughter and good friend Peyton Manning watching from the field. http://www.nmdshoescanada.com/ . Wayne and Cindy Tuck of Ilderton, Ont., closed out round-robin play earlier in the day with a 7-3 win over Finland but needed a win over Austria to reach the final eight. NMD XR1 Triple Black Canada . The 23-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., defeated Germanys Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday in the fourth round of the Sony Open in just 89 minutes. NMD CS2 Canada . Osmond, of Marystown, N.L., fell in the middle of her routine and placed fifth in the ladies free skate at Iceberg Skating Palace (110.73 points), but that was all the Canadians needed after a strong performance by Kevin Reynolds in the mens free earlier Sunday.MINSK, Belarus -- Team Canadas world hockey championship is off to a rough start after a stunning 3-2 shootout loss to France. Even though it took a shootout, the defeat at Chizhovka-Arena stands out as one of Canadas more embarrassing losses in recent history at this tournament. Its just the second time Canada has lost to France, the last coming in regulation in 1995. "Its good to have adversity early, it tells your team just how hard its going to be and France played a very strong game," Canadian coach Dave Tippett said. "They capitalized on their power play and they got the extra point in the shootout, so congratulations to them." The two latest matchups between these teams at the IIHF World Hockey Championship ended in 7-2 and 9-1 victories for Canada in 2012 and 2011, respectively. Canada entered the 2014 tournament 8-1 all-time against France. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored the shootout-winner for France. Stephane Da Costa, a part-timer with the Ottawa Senators, had each of Frances regulation power-play goals. Brayden Schenn and Erik Gudbranson scored for Canada. Former NHL goaltender Cristobal Huet shined in net for France. James Reimer was saddled with the loss for Canada. "I think we made a few mistakes, but thats to be expected when youre kind of rusty and coming back and so were going to get better every game and well be better next game," said Reimer, who finished with 26 saves. Reimer was tested plenty in the early going, stopping a point-blank attempt from Dallas Stars forward Antoine Roussel short-handed three minutes in and turning French captain Laurent Meunier away a bit later. His best save of the first period came at the 11-minute mark on Da Costas big windup from the right faceoff circle. Da Costa broke through near the end of the period with Canadas Alex Burrows in the penalty box for tripping. After defenceman Yohann Auvitus point shot hit Reimer in the pads, the puck bounced out to thee Ottawa Senators minor-leaguer, who snapped it in at the 17:03 mark to give France a 1-0 lead.dddddddddddd. It didnt take long for Canada to respond. Nathan MacKinnon drew a hooking penalty on Meunier with 35.4 seconds left in the first period, then Cody Hodgson fed Schenn for a power-play goal with 16.2 left to tie it. Canada came close to taking the lead a couple of times in the second period, no closer than when Morgan Rielly got a shot off from the right faceoff circle that Huet snagged with his glove at 11:46. Turnovers by young defencemen Tyler Myers and Erik Gudbranson brought some danger for Canada, but each time Reimer was challenged he came up big. With the seconds ticking away before intermission, Reimer made a big stop on Bellemare to get through the first 39 seconds of a five-on-three penalty kill. Canada killed off the remaining 28 seconds of the five-on-three early in the second before Troy Brouwer took another slashing penalty just 11 seconds later. Gudbranson gave Canada the lead 10:42 into the third period on a goal that was confirmed by video review. Gudbransons shot from between the faceoff circles hit the left post and went in off Huet. Da Costa scored again for France at 13:35, lifting a backhander over a sprawling Reimer to ignite cheers from an anti-Canada, pro-underdog France crowd at Chizhovka-Arena. It was a power-play goal as Jason Garrison was off for slashing and came right after defenceman Braydon Coburns turnover. Tippett pointed to turnovers and penalties as the primary culprit for one of Canadas worst losses in the past decade or so. "Its how costly they are to you when youre playing a team that is just playing not to lose because every time you turn the puck over or take a penalty, theyre just waiting for that advantage," he said. "Theyre just waiting for you to make a mistake and they feel like thats when they can make up for the discrepancy, possibly, in talent." ' ' '