rs; thats tied for eighth-best in the tournament,

NEW YORK -- Sensing the seasons dwindling days, the New York Yankees opened their penultimate homestand by falling behind on Masahiro Tanakas seventh pitch of a sunny Labor Day afternoon.Jacoby Ellsbury turned the deficit into a lead on R.A. Dickeys third offering of the day, and New York remained on the periphery of contention for a postseason berth with four weeks remaining.Ellsbury drove a 73 mph knuckleball over the right-field short porch for a two-run homer, then added an RBI single to lead the Yankees over the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 Monday and keep New York 3 1/2 games back in the AL wild-card race.Its almost imperative, said Brett Gardner, who singled one pitch ahead of Ellsburys seventh homer. At this point, we have to win every series the rest of the way. Weve got to play well, and two-out-of-three is the worst-case scenario for us.Starting a 10-game homestand that includes four games against Tampa Bay and three vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York (71-65) matched its season high of six games over .500.AL East-leading Toronto (77-60), which remained one game ahead of Boston, had been 9-3 against the Yankees this year and won seven of the prior eight matchups. The Blue Jays jumped in front when Devon Travis doubled and Jose Bautista singled, both on 0-2 counts.I felt like I was all over the place, Tanaka said through a translator.Tanaka (12-4) gave up three hits in the first but only one run, helped when Bautista got thrown out at the plate on a grounder, and settled down to win his fifth straight decision.Gardner took a strike in the bottom half and singled to center, and Ellsbury drove a high knuckler 351 feet. Ellsbury had three hits, including two against Dickey that lifted his average against the knuckleballer to .306 (11 for 36).You just try to anticipate it falling back in the zone, Ellsbury said. Last time he threw me a fastball, I hit a triple.Ellsbury added an RBI single in the third, and rookie Travis Austin hit his second double of the game in the fourth, a drive off the wall in left-center that drove in two runs for a 5-1 lead.Tanaka allowed two runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings, leaving after a leadoff walk and a fly ball by Dioner Navarro that 6-foot-7 Aaron Judge caught against the top of the right-field wall.Jonathan Holder, who made his big league debut Friday, got an out but walked his next two batters. Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run, opposite-field single to right off Ben Heller for his third hit, and Tommy Layne -- New Yorks third straight rookie reliever -- retired pitch hitter Russell Martin on a looping ball to second baseman Starlin Castro.Dellin Betances, the Yankees sixth pitcher, got three straight outs for his ninth save.Dickey (9-14) allowed five runs and seven hits in four innings on a blustery afternoon, his second shortest start this season. He is 0-6 in his last nine starts at Yankee Stadium.I had a lot of movement on it, he said of his knuckler. Sometimes this games a matter of centimeters, you know, one that gets off the barrel, doesnt get off the barrel and its popped out to right field.MOVING INEric Young Jr. took over Alex Rodriguezs locker stall and Greg Bird moved into Carlos Beltrans. Bird, sidelined all season following surgery in February to repair a right labrum tear, hit in a batting cage for the first time since the operation. He expects to face pitching in the instructional league for two weeks starting Sept. 26 and play in the Arizona Fall League.POWER OUTAGENew York had 15 hits, all singles, in the weekend series at Baltimore, the first big league team to go without an extra-base hit in a series of three games or longer since the Chicago White Sox at Minnesota from Sept. 14-16, 2004. The Yankees had not done that since July 26-28, 1974, also at Baltimore.SLIDINGJudge was 0 for 3 with three strikeouts, dropping his batting average to .169, and has 35 strikeouts in 65 at-bats. ... Didi Gregorius is in a 1-for-19 slump.TOP SPYJohn O. Brennan, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, threw out a ceremonial first pitch.TRAINERS ROOMYankees: With RHP Chad Green sidelined with an elbow injury, manager Joe Girardi said his starting pitcher Wednesday could be Bryan Mitchell, who broke a toe in spring training and has a 4.29 ERA in six minor league rehabilitation starts. Girardi said his other option was Johnny Wholestaff -- a reference to using a combination of relievers. Green is expected to have a contrast agent MRI on Tuesday. ... OF Aaron Hicks was placed on the 15-day DL with a right hamstring strain, a move retroactive to Thursday.UP NEXTRHP Luis Cessa (4-0) is to start for the Yankees on Tuesday and RHP Aaron Sanchez (13-2) goes for the Blue Jays. Nico Hischier Devils Jersey . Cuban testified Thursday that he was upset when the companys CEO told him news that would reduce the value of his shares, for which hed paid $7.5 million. But he said he did nothing improper when he sold those shares over the next two days. Miles Wood Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.devilssale.com/authentic-andy-greene-devils-jersey/ . With the short-handed Warriors needing help from someone -- anyone -- to stop a three-game skid, ONeal returned from right knee and groin injuries that had sidelined him for four games and put up season highs with 18 points and eight rebounds. It was just enough to help lift Golden State to a 102-101 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Mirco Mueller Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Andy Greene Devils Jersey .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. UFC 200 has grown so big that a single fight card cant contain it.The worlds dominant mixed martial arts promotion is throwing an anniversary party for itself in Las Vegas, staging several days of events collectively dubbed International Fight Week. The UFC is putting on shows on three consecutive nights, along with innumerable accompanying fan activities and entertainments, including everything from a massive fan expo to a 5K run.It all culminates Saturday night in UFC 200, which has one of the most stacked fight cards in the promotions history.Sure, its not technically the UFCs 200th actual pay-per-view show, since it has been forced to cancel two numbered events. But with a recent run of success inside and outside the cage, along with widespread rumors of the entire promotions impending sale for multiple billions, the UFC brass clearly feels the numerical milestone is a great time to celebrate.Its pretty cool to be involved in something like this, said Jon Jones, whose rematch with Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight title caps the entire week. You know its a historic week for the UFC, and theyve come a long way to get to this point.The UFC did a similarly super-sized week of three consecutive fight cards last December, and all three shows drew sizable crowds in the UFCs hometown. Theyre going even bigger this time, scheduling the first two shows at the MGM Grand Garden Arena before moving across the Strip on Saturday to the sparkling-new T-Mobile Arena, the home of Las Vegas expansion NHL franchise.Here are five things to know heading into the big week:TITLE FIGHTS EVERY NIGHT: A belt will be won on each of the three shows, culminating in three title fights Saturday. Lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos defense against Eddie Alvarez headlines Thursdays card, while strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk takes on Claudia Gadelha atop Fridays show. The three championship fights at UFC 200 are Jose Aldos interim featherweight title fight with Frankie Edgar, bantamweight champion Miesha Tates defense against Amanda Nunes, and Jones ssecond meeting with Cormier.ddddddddddddEVERYONES A STAR: UFC 200 alone features nine fighters who have held a championship belt during their careers. Former heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez, former bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw and former welterweight champ Johny Hendricks are all in difficult bouts. The card also includes former title contenders Cat Zingano, Mark Hunt and Diego Sanchez, along with some of the most crowd-pleasing fighters in UFC history, including Joe Lauzon and Jim Miller.BIG BAD BROCK: Along with the legitimate competitive reasons to buy UFC 200, theres also the biggest spectacle in MMA: Brock Lesnar, the former heavyweight champ and current professional wrestler. Nearly five years after his last fight, and a year after saying he was done with MMA, the UFC 100 headliner returns to the cage to fight knockout artist Hunt. Lesnar will get a big payday for taking the enormous risk, and the UFC will get another boost from the biggest pay-per-view draw in the sports history.CONOR AND NATE II: Conor McGregors rematch with Nate Diaz isnt on the UFC 200 card, thanks to McGregors brief scrap with the UFC over money and promotional responsibilities earlier this year. But the charismatic Irishman and his Californian conqueror will make their presence felt at International Fight Week. Theyre scheduled for a news conference Thursday to promote their meeting at UFC 202 on Aug. 20. It will feel more like a fight: The promotion is holding the event at T-Mobile Arena, and its open to the public.GRAND FINALE: The festivities all come down to Jones second meeting with Cormier. A victory would be redemption for Jones (22-1), widely considered the worlds top pound-for-pound MMA fighter. He had his 205-pound title stripped last year after his involvement in a hit-and-run accident, but returned earlier this year. Cormier (17-1) has never lost to anyone but Jones, but he was outclassed in their first meeting. ' ' '