TORONTO -- Mark Lowe thought he made a good pitch on his 2-2 slider to Greg Bird in the 10th inning on Tuesday.

"Down and away, bottom of the zone and he just leaned out and got it," Lowe (1-3) said. "Great piece of hitting."

The New York Yankees would agree with the Toronto Blue Jays right-hander.

Bird, the Yankees first baseman, lined the pitch to right field for a three-run homer and the Yankees held on to defeat the Blue Jays 6-4.

"He's had so many clutch hits for us," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He's been big for us."

Bird's 10th homer of the season brought the Yankees (83-67) to within 2 1/2 games of the first-place Blue Jays (86-65) in the American League East.

"I was pretty pumped up," Bird said. "It's a big win for us, a big team win. It was a cool atmosphere, real intense here. A lot of back and forth. I think the fans definitely got their money's worth tonight. That was a great game.

"We're still definitely in it."

Yankees right fielder Carlos Beltran had homered on a 1-0 fastball from right-hander Liam Hendriks for his 17th homer of the season in the eighth to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

Blue Jays catcher Dioner Navarro equalized with his fifth homer of the season on a first-pitch fastball with one out in the ninth against left-hander Andrew Miller (3-2).

Miller returned for the bottom of the 10th and gave up the 35th homer of the season by Toronto designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion.

"It's awesome," Lowe said. "If that doesn't fire you up, you're doing the wrong thing for a living. The team was fired up. I was hoping to go out there and throw up a zero. Eddie hits a home run that inning, so who knows."

The Blue Jays loaded the bases in the ninth after Navarro's homer but third baseman Josh Donaldson struck out to send the game to extra innings.

"It's tough to do anything with two outs, (Donaldson) has done it so many times," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "So many guys in that locker room have done that. They battled. Navarro gets that big home run and we load the bases. That's one thing about this group, they keep coming at you."

Center fielder Kevin Pillar also homered for the Blue Jays.

Blue Jays right-hander Marco Estrada allowed six hits, three walks (one intentional) and two runs while striking out three in 6 2/3 innings.

Yankees right-hander Luis Severino allowed three hits, three walks and two runs with three strikeouts in six innings.

The Blue Jays worked out of a jam in the seventh to keep the score at 2-2. Estrada walked Yankees second baseman Dustin Ackley on four pitches with one out.

Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius followed with a single to right. Ackley tried to take third on the play but right fielder Jose Bautista threw to Donaldson, who made a good play to tag Ackley as Gregorius took second on the throw.

Ackley was called safe. That decision was reversed on a video review and Ackley became the second out of the inning.

Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was intentionally walked and left-hander Aaron Loup replaced Estrada. Left fielder Brett Gardner bounced an infield single off Loup to load the bases. Hendriks took over and struck out designated hitter Alex Rodriguez to end the threat.

Right-hander Drew Hutchison took over for the Blue Jays in the ninth. He walked right fielder Chris Young and allowed a ground-rule double to Gregorius.

Right-hander Ryan Tepera replaced Hutchison and got a fly ball to right from Ellsbury. After the catch, Bautista made a strong throw home to get Young at the plate to complete the double play as Gregorius took third. Gardner walked. The inning ended on a fly to center by Rodriguez.

Yankees catcher Brian McCann led off the 10th with a bunt single to third with the shift on. Pinch-runner Rico Noel took second when pinch-hitter Slade Heathcott was awarded first on catcher's interference and Bird homered.

The Yankees scored twice in the first inning.

Ellsbury led off with a double, Rodriguez walked with one out, McCann hit an RBI single and Beltran hit a sacrifice fly.

Pillar lined a 2-2 fastball to left for his 11th home run of the season with one out in the third to cut the lead to 2-1.

First baseman Justin Smoak tied the game at 2-2 with a two-out single in the fourth. It scored Donaldson, who led off with a walk and took second on a wild pitch.

"Mathematically, you're still in it," Girardi said. "But with the way they've played and with us not having a chance to play them, we would have dug ourselves a pretty deep hole."

NOTES: Blue Jays INF Munenori Kawasaki was given the start at second base Tuesday to give INF Cliff Pennington a rest. Pennington has been at second base regularly since SS Troy Tulowitzki suffered a fracture in the left shoulder blade on Sept. 12, forcing INF Ryan Goins to move from second to short. Tulowitzki played catch Tuesday but there is no date set for a return. ... Yankees INF/OF Dustin Ackley made his fifth start at second base in the past six games Tuesday. He entered the game on a 9-for-19 surge (.474). ... Yankees RHP Ivan Nova (6-8, 5.11 ERA) will start the finale of the three-game series Wednesday against Blue Jays RHP Marcos Stroman (2-0, 3.00). Nova is starting in place of RHP Masahiro Tanaka, who is out with a strained right hamstring. The Yankees hope he misses only one start.