TORONTO -- Randal Grichuk’s hot stretch at the plate continued in Sunday’s 6-4 win at Rogers Centre over the Yankees, a team he’ll be looking forward to facing one last time next weekend in New York.

Grichuk launched two home runs, his 27th and 28th of the season, to extend his career high and put himself within striking distance of 30 with a dozen games remaining in the season. He loves Yankees pitching, too, with eight home runs against them in just 16 games in 2019.

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Sunday’s performance extended Grichuk’s hitting streak to eight games, and he hasn’t been skipping along on bloop singles, either. He has extra-base hits in seven of those eight games, including four homers.

“Even on a down year, the power’s still there,” Grichuk said, “so that’s a positive. I’m not feeling for it or getting out of my swing to take away power, even when I’m struggling. That’s a positive. I’d like to be a little more consistent, but I’m glad the power’s still there.”

Grichuk tied things up in the bottom of the third inning with his first long ball of the night on a two-seam fastball that he barreled up and drove over the wall in right-centre field. Jump ahead to the sixth inning, and Grichuk broke that 3-3 tie with a three-run shot to left that scored Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio.

With the spotlight squarely on those young hitters in front of him and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. over these final weeks, Grichuk has quietly put up career highs in home runs and RBIs despite his low average and on-base percentage. His recent power to the opposite field has been an encouraging sign that those numbers can move in the right direction late in the season.

Grichuk had been searching for a hot stretch all season, particularly in the early months. He’s felt uncomfortable for most of the season, he says, but is optimistic that he can enter the offseason on a high note and eventually begin 2020 with some momentum. His manager has noticed, too, even if the results haven’t always shown themselves in obvious ways.

“His approach has been better in the second half,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “He hasn’t gotten that many hits, but his approach has gotten better. At the beginning of the year, he was chasing a lot of balls in the dirt. It seems like it was almost every day. Since the second half, he’s been a lot better.”

Behind Grichuk’s four-RBI day, rookie T.J. Zeuch followed opener Wilmer Font and pitched 5 1/3 innings. The big right-hander allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits, striking out five. Derek Law and Sam Gaviglio bridged the gap to closer Ken Giles, who locked down his 20th save of the season.

“He did a good job,” Montoyo said of Zeuch. “He gave up a couple, then he calmed down and he gave us a chance. He needed to do what he did to get there because our bullpen was thin, so it was big. Just to get one out in that seventh inning, that was big.”

The Blue Jays have now won back-to-back home series against the Red Sox and the Yankees before hitting the road for the final time this season, but the final inning on Sunday still left Montoyo with some nerves.

“Today, in the ninth inning, was the most nervous I’ve been all year,” Montoyo said. “It gives us a chance to take two out of three from Boston and two out of three from the Yankees. We were that close to doing that. It’s funny how nervous I was for the first time. I think it’s good for the kids, that we can compete with the best teams.”