NEW YORK -- The way manager Joe Girardi described it, for weeks Bryan Mitchell was throwing from a chair with his injured foot elevated just to keep his arm in shape down in lonely Florida.Boy, are the Yankees happy Mitchell didnt have to sit out all season.Mitchell earned his first major league win, combining with Luis Severino and Tyler Clippard to shut down the dangerous Toronto Blue Jays, and New York kept up its surprising surge with a 2-0 victory Wednesday night that completed a three-game sweep.After the whole season, what I went through, tonights very rewarding, Mitchell said. Its been my goal all year to get back here.Starlin Castro homered and Brian McCann had an RBI single for the Yankees, who have won four straight and 10 of 14. They closed within 2 1/2 games of Baltimore for the second AL wild card and are 4 1/2 behind first-place Boston in the AL East.Weve been playing playoff baseball really since about Aug. 1, Girardi said. We keep getting closer, and thats the idea here. And its been fun.The skidding Blue Jays dropped out of first place for the first time since Aug. 12. They fell a game behind new division leader Boston, which won 7-2 in San Diego.Were right in it. We just need either a big play or a big hit somewhere to get us going back in the right direction, catcher Russell Martin said. Youre not going to see any panic from me.Marcus Stroman (9-7) struck out eight in five innings but the Blue Jays lost for the fifth time in six games. They were swept for the third time this season, first since May 16-18 by Tampa Bay.Torontos power-packed lineup has been blanked on six occasions this year, three at Yankee Stadium.Making an unexpected run at the playoffs after trading several veteran stars for prospects this summer, the youth-infused Yankees (73-65) climbed a season-best eight games above .500. They were finally able to finish off a sweep, too.The Yankees had lost in each of their previous seven attempts at a series sweep of at least three games and were 2-9 in those situations this season before wiping out the Blue Jays.Were playing really good baseball. Were excited for this last month, McCann said.Helped by two double plays, Mitchell (1-0) yielded four hits over five-plus innings in his fourth career start and first major league outing this season. The 25-year-old right-hander pitched in place of injured rookie Chad Green.It feels weird coming back at this point in the season, Mitchell said.Mitchell was promoted Tuesday from Triple-A after missing much of the year because of an injury to his left big toe sustained late in spring training. He entered 0-3 in the majors, working mostly in relief for New York over the past two years, but became the third Yankees rookie to have a scoreless start in the past three-plus weeks.I dont think you could ask for any more, Girardi said.A leadoff double by Devon Travis in the sixth ended Mitchells night before Severino tossed three innings of one-hit ball.Travis got caught breaking for third on Josh Donaldsons comebacker and was tagged out in a rundown. Severino was aided by a replay reversal in the seventh, and Edwin Encarnacion flied out to the right-field wall with a runner on to end the eighth.Clippard, filling in as the closer with Dellin Betances and Adam Warren unavailable, struck out two in a perfect ninth to finish the five-hitter. His only other save this season came with Arizona before he was traded back to New York.Castro hit his 20th homer with two outs in the third. Didi Gregorius doubled, Mark Teixeira walked and McCann singled sharply to right field.HOW SWEEP IT ISIt was New Yorks first sweep of a division foe since July last year against Baltimore, and its first of the Blue Jays since June 2014, also at Yankee Stadium.SPREADING IT AROUNDThree different pitchers earned saves in the series, and four have saves in New Yorks last six wins. Clippard became the AL-high eighth reliever to get a save for the Yankees this year, matching a franchise record.TRAINERS ROOMBlue Jays: LHP Francisco Liriano (back) was unavailable. ... Martin (left knee) was lifted for a pinch hitter in the ninth.Yankees: Rookie catcher Gary Sanchez was given the night off. RF Aaron Judge also was rested before entering on defense in the seventh. Sanchez and Judge will be back in the starting lineup Thursday, Girardi said. ... Betances probably will be unavailable again Thursday, Girardi said. The big closer threw 40 pitches Tuesday, his third straight day of work.UP NEXTBlue Jays: Following an off day, Toronto begins a pivotal, three-game series Friday night at home against Boston. RHP Marco Estrada (8-7, 3.56 ERA) starts the opener for the Blue Jays against Rick Porcello (19-3, 3.23), the major league leader in wins.Yankees: LHP CC Sabathia (8-12, 4.20) pitches Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series against last-place Tampa Bay. New York was shut out by Baltimore in both of his last two outings. Rays RHP Alex Cobb (0-0) makes his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery. Raptors Jerseys 2020 . 8 Iowa State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss. The Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in the row in the Big 12. Cheap Raptors Jerseys .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. https://www.cheapraptors.com/ . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. Toronto Raptors Gear . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. Custom Toronto Raptors Jerseys . The 18th player to shoot 60 on the tour, Jamieson settled for par on the final hole when his 15-foot birdie chip grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out. After opening with rounds of 66 and 73 to make the cut by a stroke, he had 11 birdies in the bogey-free round. LONDON -- British cyclist Lizzie Armitstead won an appeal against an anti-doping violation, clearing the world road race champion to compete at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.Armitstead missed three doping tests in a 12-month period, triggering a charge by U.K. Anti-Doping, a provisional suspension and the possibility of a two-year ban.She appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and a statement released on Armitsteads behalf on Monday said the first missed test -- from August 2015 -- was declared void by CAS because UKADs doping control officer had failed to follow procedure.On Tuesday, UKAD confirmed the ruling by CAS.We respect the outcome of the CAS hearing, said UKAD chief executive Nicole Sapstead, who added that the organization was awaiting the written decision on why the violation was not upheld.Armitstead said she has always been and will always be a clean athlete and have been vocal in my anti-doping stance throughout my career.I am pleased that CAS has accepted my position, having provided detailed information demonstrating the situation around my strikes, she said in her statement.The 27-year-old AArmitstead won a silver medal in the road race at the London Games in 2012 and is one of the favorites in Rio.dddddddddddd She won gold at the road world championships in the United States in September.Armitsteads first missed test came at a World Cup event in Sweden. The second was an administrative failure on Oct. 5 and the third was a missed test on June 9 following an emergency change of plans due to a serious illness within her family.She was charged by UKAD with three whereabouts failures on July 11.Sapstead said Armitstead chose not to challenge the first and second Whereabouts Failures at the time they were asserted against her.At the CAS hearing, Ms. Armitstead raised a defense in relation to the first Whereabouts Failure, which was accepted by the Panel, Sapstead said.Armitstead did not dispute the last two faults at CAS.UKAD has a policy of not publicly disclosing provisional suspensions, or details of cases, until an anti-doping rule violation has deemed to have been committed. ' ' '