Toronto’s Bo Bichette reacts after striking out during the first inning Monday night against the New York Yankees in Toronto. Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP

TORONTO — Gleyber Torres homered early, then hit a go-ahead single in the ninth inning as the New York Yankees won their 10th straight game, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 Monday night.

Giancarlo Stanton singled off Yimi Garcia (0-2) to begin the New York ninth, ending a streak of four perfect innings by Blue Jays relievers. Pinch-runner Tim Locastro stole second, but Josh Donaldson grounded out and Aaron Hicks struck out before Torres lined a single to center field.

Clay Holmes (2-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win and Chad Green worked a perfect ninth for his first save in three chances.

Torres opened the scoring with a two-out, two-run drive off Ross Stripling in the fourth, his third homer of the season.

The Yankees won for the 12th time in 13 games and improved their MLB-leading record to 17-8.

The Blue Jays dropped to 9-3 in one-run games.

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New York put runners at the corners with one out in the third but Stripling struck out Aaron Judge and got Anthony Rizzo to fly out. Judge had homered in his past three games, and had hit five home runs in his previous five games.

Yankees left-hander Jordan Montgomery faced the minimum through three innings but the Blue Jays tied it in the bottom of the fourth. George Springer singled and scored on Bo Bichette’s RBI double. Bichette advanced on a fly ball and later scored on Matt Chapman’s two-out single.

Chapman struck out against Jonathan Loaisiga to end the sixth, stranding Bichette at third.

Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk drew a leadoff walk against reliever Miguel Castro in the seventh and Tyler Heineman hit a two-out double, but Holmes came on and got Springer to ground out.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit back-to-back singles off Holmes in the eighth but Chapman grounded into an inning-ending double play, Toronto’s third of the game.

Montgomery gave up two runs and six hits in five-plus innings. He walked none and struck out five.

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TWINS 2, ORIOLES 1: Chris Paddack pitched effectively into the sixth, and Carlos Correa hit a tie-breaking single that same inning to lift visiting Minnesota  to its 10th win in 11 games.

The Twins were shut out in two of Paddack’s first three starts this season but got just enough run support to win this time.

Paddack (1-2) allowed a run and four hits in 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander left with men on first and third and one out. Joe Smith then took the mound and got Ryan Mountcastle to bounce into a double play that kept the Twins up 2-1.

Griffin Jax and Emilio Pagan each worked a hitless inning, and hard-throwing rookie Jhoan Duran pitched a perfect ninth for his first career save.

WHITE SOX 3, ANGELS 0: Dylan Cease struck out 11 to match a career best and gave up just one hit in seven sparkling innings, propelling Chicago over visiting Los Angeles.

Three-time AL MVP Mike Trout struck out in all four at-bats, three against Cease. The Angels’ star, who homered and doubled in a win Sunday to raise his OPS to a whopping 1.247, fanned against Liam Hendriks to end the game.

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NATIONAL LEAGUE

DIAMONDBACKS 5, MARLINS 4: Zac Gallen outpitched Pablo Lopez as Arizona built a lead and held on to beat the Marlins at Miami.

David Peralta homered, singled twice and drove in three runs, and Daulton Varsho hit two doubles for the Diamondbacks, who have won 5 of 7. Arizona’s Jordan Luplow had two hits and two RBI.

BRAVES 5, METS 2: Austin Riley homered, Max Fried won his third straight outing and visiting Atlanta cooled off New York in the first of 19 meetings between the NL East rivals this season.

Travis d’Arnaud had three hits and three RBI against his former team. Fried (3-2) settled in after a rocky start, outpitching Chris Bassitt as the defending World Series champions took the opener of a four-game series with only their second comeback win of the year.

Mark Canha hit his first home run for the division-leading Mets (16-8).

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INTERLEAGUE

CARDINALS 1, ROYALS 0: Paul Goldschmidt hit an early home run and Steven Matz and the St. Louis bullpen made it stand up, leading the Cardinals to a win at home.

Goldschmidt, who got his first day off of the season Sunday, connected with one out in the first inning against Zack Greinke.

The Royals lost their fourth in a row overall, and have dropped 21 of their last 28 to St. Louis dating to Aug. 7, 2017. This game was a makeup from a rainout on April 13.

Matz (3-1) scattered four hits, including a pair of doubles, in six innings. He walked none, hit a batter and struck out four.

NOTES

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METS: Robinson Cano was cut by the New York Mets with nearly $45 million remaining on his contract, ending an ill-fated marriage and perhaps signaling the end of his decorated major league career.

The slumping Cano was designated for assignment in a move announced about an hour before teams were required to trim their active rosters from 28 players to 26. Relegated to a part-time role this season, Cano was a casualty of the crunch as the first-place Mets chose to keep younger, more versatile bench players instead.

The 39-year-old Cano, who sat out last season while serving his second suspension for performance-enhancing drugs, is batting .195 (8 for 41) with one home run, three RBI and a paltry .501 OPS in 43 plate appearances. He homered to the opposite field with a vintage swing in the home opener April 15 against Arizona, but has appeared in just 12 of 23 games, starting six at second base and five at designated hitter.

Despite his early struggles in a reduced role, the decision to jettison Cano was still a complicated one for the Mets – and not only because of all the money he’s owed.

He remained a popular veteran in the clubhouse happy to share his baseball wisdom. Cano and several teammates have said they were confident he would eventually produce at the plate if given the opportunity. And with the writing perhaps on the wall, star shortstop Francisco Lindor said Sunday he wouldn’t be happy if Cano was cut.

Mets Manager Buck Showalter acknowledged it’s challenging for a veteran player such as Cano, accustomed to being in the lineup every day, to adjust and flourish as a part-time player.

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“I don’t care how experienced you are, it’s tough. And I’m very empathetic to that,” Showalter said Sunday. “It’s difficult for him. I’m aware of that. It’s difficult for a lot of guys. It’s difficult for J.D. Davis, Dom Smith, (Luis) Guillorme.”

An eight-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner, Cano spent his first nine big league seasons across town with the New York Yankees and helped them win the 2009 World Series. He has won five Silver Slugger awards and was MVP of the 2017 All-Star Game.

Cano has a .302 career batting average with 335 home runs, 1,305 RBI and an .842 OPS in 17 seasons. He has 2,632 hits, including 571 doubles.

Cano is owed $44,703,297 by the Mets from the remainder of the $240 million, 10-year contract he signed with Seattle. He has lost $36,258,065 because of the two drug suspensions.

New York has seven days to trade or release Cano, or send him outright to the minors – an assignment he would have the right to refuse because he has at least three years of major league service.

It’s highly unlikely another club would claim Cano on waivers because it would be responsible for his full salary. But if he’s released by the Mets, a team could sign him for a prorated share of the $700,000 minimum this season and also pay the $710,000 minimum in 2023.

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Seattle remains responsible for a final $3.75 million payment to the Mets this Dec. 1, part of $20 million the Mariners agreed to pay New York at the time they sent Cano to the Mets in a polarizing trade made by former New York general manager Brodie Van Wagenen in December 2018.

In a deal that also netted closer Edwin Diaz, the Mets shipped five players to Seattle – including prized outfield prospect Jarred Kelenic, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2018 amateur draft. New York agreed to assume $100 million left on the final five years of Cano’s contract at the time.

Cano ended up playing only 168 games for the Mets, batting .269 with 24 homers, 72 RBI and a .765 OPS.

In addition to cutting Cano, the Mets optioned right-handed reliever Yoan Lopez to Triple-A Syracuse.

• Showalter was suspended for Monday’s series opener against the Atlanta Braves after Major League Baseball determined New York reliever Yoan Lopez intentionally threw at Philadelphia slugger Kyle Schwarber the previous night.

Lopez received a three-game ban that starts whenever he returns to the active big league roster. If he appeals, the penalty would be delayed until the process is completed.

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ANGELS: Shohei Ohtani was held out of the starting lineup Monday, a day after the AL MVP exited a win over the Chicago White Sox because of tightness in his groin.

Angels trainer Mike Frostad said Ohtani was “doing better this morning” and there were currently no plans for an MRI or to put the two-way sensation on the injured list.

Ohtani was the Angels’ designated hitter when he was pulled late for a pinch hitter Sunday. After the game, he said he expected he’d be able to play Monday in the series finale.

Ohtani went through a partial pregame warm-up on Monday. Manager Joe Maddon said Ohtani could pitch at Boston later in the week.

“I hope so,” Maddon said. “We’re just going to wait a day or two to figure that out.”

Ohtani (2-2, 4.19 ERA) allowed two earned runs on five hits and struck out four in his last start on Wednesday.

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Ohtani is batting .228 with four home runs and 12 RBI in 22 games this season.

BREWERS: The Milwaukee Brewers have designated right-handed pitcher Jose Urena for assignment and activated infielder Luis Urias from the injured list.

Urena, 30, signed with the Brewers before the season and went 0-0 with a 3.52 ERA in four relief appearances. He went 4-8 with a 5.81 ERA for the Detroit Tigers last season in 26 games, including 18 starts.

TWINS: The Minnesota Twins put Miguel Sano on the 10-day injured list and called up infield prospect Jose Miranda to make his big league debut.

ARBITRATION: Adam Frazier and the Seattle Mariners argued the first of this year’s delayed salary arbitration cases, with the second baseman/outfielder asking for a raise from $4.3 million to $8 million and the team arguing for $6.7 million.

Arbitrators Margaret Brogan, Frederic Horowitz and Brian Keller heard the case virtually. They will withhold their decision for two weeks.


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