NEW YORK -- The are few things that guarantee a Yankees victory quite like the sight of Mark Buehrle on the mound for their opponent. He hasn't beaten the Yankees since April 10, 2004, and in the 10 years and five months that have passed since that win, he had lost 11 consecutive decisions.

Now, make that an even dozen. The Yankees got three RBIs out of Jacoby Ellsbury -- who they then lost to a hamstring strain apparently suffered in the fourth inning -- another strong starting performance out of Hiroki Kuroda, and some clutch pitching out of the bullpen to win their third straight and breathe another day of life into their rather remote chance of playing in October.

Steadying influence: Before the game, Yankees manager Joe Girardi called Kuroda "the one constant" in his rotation for the past three seasons, and "a true professional"; Kuroda was both of those once again tonight, weathering a two-run, 23-pitch first inning to last into the seventh, allowing seven hits and three runs (two earned), striking out seven and walking none. At 40, Kuroda has been the only consistently reliable starter the Yankees have had for the entire season. He has now started five times against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium, and won all five.

Ells-buried: A long two-run homer into the right-field bleachers by Ellsbury gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead in the third. Ellsbury hit a 1-1 Buehrle fastball that loitered in at 84 mph with Ichiro Suzuki on base for his 16th home run of the season and team-leading 69th RBI.

Ouch-bury: Ellsbury added his 70th RBI on a fourth-inning fielder's choice grounder that scored two runs when Jose Reyes threw the relay past first baseman Adam Lind, but apparently injured himself on the play, because he did not return to center field for the top of the fifth. Chris Young went in to play left and Brett Gardner moved to center. Late in the game, the Yankees announced Ellsbury had suffered a right hamstring strain and would undergo an MRI.

Wasn't a shutout: Edwin Encarnacion got the Jays on the board in the first with a two-run homer that rang the pipe that serves as the left-field foul pole on a 2-0 slider from Kuroda. It was Encarnacion's 33rd home run of the season and the fourth he has hit off Kuroda in 24 career at-bats.

Capt. Cool: With help from an absentminded Reyes, Derek Jeter made a heads-up play that erased a Toronto runner from second base in the first inning. Reyes had led off the game by lining Kuroda's second pitch into the right-field corner for a double, and when Jose Bautista smoked a one-hopper that Jeter snagged at short, it appeared Reyes would hold up. But he began to break for third before Jeter released the throw to first, and the Captain alertly held the ball and fired to Chase Headley, who tagged Reyes out between second and third after a brief rundown. What looked like a big break for the Yankees, however, went for naught when Encarnacion followed with his two-run homer.

First dud: The first three Yankees to face Buehrle got hits -- a leadoff double by Ellsbury, a line single by Jeter and an RBI single by Brian McCann -- but the rally stalled there when Mark Teixeira tapped back to the mound for a 1-4-3 double play and Carlos Beltran struck out looking.

Jolly Rogers: Esmil Rogers got arguably the biggest out of the game when, after walking Bautista to load the bases following a single by Anthony Gose and a ground-rule double by Reyes, he got the dangerous Encarnacion to bounce into a forceout to end the seventh inning and preserve the 5-3 lead. Adam Warren also pitched in with two big strikeouts to end the eighth, and threw a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the save.

The first days of Pompey: Rays left fielder Dalton Pompey, a September call-up, collected his first big-league hit, a line drive to right-center just over a leaping Stephen Drew's glove, with one out in the second.

Tomorrow: Game 3 of this four-game series matches Chris Capuano (2-3, 4.55) and RHP Marcus Stroman (10-6, 3.80), first pitch at 4:05 p.m.