NEW YORK -- The distance between 29-year-old Justin Smoak's hometown of Goose Creek, S.C., and 33-year-old Brett Gardner's native Holly Hill, S.C., is 38 miles.

If the two should ever run into each other during the offseason, Smoak might ask Gardner: "How did you make such a great catch to end a crucial September game at Yankee Stadium?"

"I know him pretty well," Smoak said. "Good for him."

Gardner preserved a 7-6 victory by the New York Yankees over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night by robbing Smoak of a go-ahead hit with a leaping catch inches away from the left field fence.

"Gardner, he's been known to do that," Toronto manager John Gibbons said.

With two runs already in, the Blue Jays had the bases loaded with one out. Seconds after Kevin Pillar slammed his bat in the dugout for striking out against Blake Parker, Smoak lifted a first-pitch curveball into left field.

Gardner, crashed against the wall, stuck his glove up and made a leaping catch as the ball stayed in the top of his glove. He jumped in triumph, flipped the ball into the air as Jacoby Ellsbury caught it and walked off the field to celebrate.

The Yankees (72-65) won for the ninth time in 13 games and stayed 3 1/2 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the second American League wild-card spot.

"I think as the ball went in my glove, I hit the wall, and on a play like that, you want to make sure the ball is in the glove before you hit the wall because hitting the wall can jar you," Gardner said. "Fortunate that it stayed in."

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, "I was worried. I've seen him go that way before, and I was hoping because it was a curveball that maybe we didn't provide as much power for (Smoak). He's got a lot of power, and I was worried, Just a great catch by Gardy."

As Gardner caught the ball, Smoak reached first base and had a look of disbelief on his face.

"We were two inches away from scoring two more runs there or even three," Toronto starting pitcher Aaron Sanchez said.

Gardner's catch helped the Yankees survive one of their wildest finishes of the year. Using Dellin Betances for the third straight day, they watched their closer throw 40 pitches and give up RBI infield hits to Edwin Encarnacion and Melvin Upton Jr. in the ninth.

The second hit coming after Betances did not cover first base in time on Upton's slow grounder fielded by first baseman Mark Teixeira.

"I was hoping for the best there," Betances said of the outcome after he was pulled in favor of Parker. "Obviously, I didn't leave a good situation out there, so I was glad we won that game."

Gardner's catch preserved the second career save for Parker, the seventh reliever used by the Yankees. It was his first save of the year.

The dramatics of the ninth capped a wild last few innings.

The Yankees took a 3-2 lead with two outs in the seventh on Tyler Austin's two-run home run off Sanchez. The Blue Jays went ahead 4-3 on Pillar's two-run double over Gardner's head in an inning when the Yankees used four pitchers.

Toronto was unable to tack on anymore as Devon Travis struck out against Chasen Shreve (2-1).

The Yankees scored four times in their portion of the eighth off Jason Grilli (4-3) on Didi Gregorius' triple over Pillar's head in center field and subsequent head-first slide on Starlin Castro's sacrifice fly.

The Yankees added two runs that ultimately proved significant when Chase Headley hit a two-run home run into the right-center-field seats.

"Probably the game-winner," Girardi said.

Before the memorable finish, Encarnacion and Brian McCann traded second-deck home runs in the first and fourth innings. The Blue Jays took a 2-1 lead on Jose Bautista's broken-bat single off Luis Cessa, and the game stayed that way until Austin celebrated his 25th birthday by slugging his second career home run.

Sanchez allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings, while Cessa allowed two runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings.

NOTES: Both teams recalled a pair of pitchers from their Triple-A affiliates. Toronto recalled LHP Aaron Loup and RHP Bo Schultz, while the Yankees promoted LHP James Pazos and RHP Bryan Mitchell. Manager Joe Girardi said he was leaning toward starting Mitchell on Wednesday. ... Toronto manager John Gibbons said LHP Francisco Liriano (back) is feeling better and he would likely have pitched more than two innings Monday if he did not get hurt. ... Gibbons said his rotation for this weekend's series against Boston will be RHP Marco Estrada, LHP J.A. Happ and RHP Aaron Sanchez. ... Toronto OF Kevin Pillar and New York OF Brett Gardner were selected as nominees for the Roberto Clemente Community Service award, which will be announced during the World Series.