Yankees’ win streak cut short at seven

TORONTO -- Just before heading to Boston, the New York Yankees and their star sluggers were finally stopped by the Blue Jays.

A.J. Burnett pitched eight outstanding innings, Frank Thomas singled home the winning run in the ninth and Toronto beat the Yankees, 2-1, Thursday night to end New York’s seven-game winning streak.

“It’s disappointing,” Manager Joe Torre said. “They shut us down offensively.”

The Yankees, who fell 5 1/2 games behind the first-place Red Sox in the AL East, now go to Fenway Park to begin a big three-game series against their longtime rivals tonight.

Johnny Damon homered and rookie Ian Kennedy gave up one hit in seven-plus innings for New York, which leads the wild-card race by 3 1/2 games over Detroit.

“Kennedy was remarkable, absolutely remarkable,” Torre said. “He was so good, pitch count-wise.

“What a great start for this kid. He went about his business like he’s been in the big leagues for 10 years.”

Still, Toronto ended a five-game losing streak.

New York had runners on second and third with two outs in the ninth, but left-hander Scott Downs got Melky Cabrera to ground out to first.