Yanks hope late rally is a sign of better things

TORONTO — The Yankees’ bats seemed to be held up in customs until Brian McCann’s long ninth-inning home run on Monday, a blast they hope indicates that a snooze plaguing most of their lineup is coming to an end.

McCann snapped a personal 0-for-21 skid with his two-run blast off Aaron Loup, then Mark Teixeira doubled off Drew Storen for his first extra-base hit since May 16. The hits weren’t enough to avert a 4-2 loss to the Blue Jays, but the way things have been going, they’ll take the rally as a sign of progress.

“We haven’t been swinging the bats great,” McCann said. “We have to continue to grind, continue to show up and get hot.”

Six of the nine men in New York’s lineup on Monday are trying to shake off cold spells, which made it a challenge to generate offense against Marco Estrada one night after they were limited to one hit by the Rays’ Jake Odorizzi yet pulled out a victory at Tropicana Field.

“I think it’s just one of those stretches. It happens,” Teixeira said. “We faced a good pitcher yesterday and a good one again today. We’ll just go out and try to score runs tomorrow.”

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