TORONTO — The Yankees' bats spoke loudly and Andy Pettitte pitched as if it were a decade ago.
Yet, the best development to come out of Rogers Centre last night was an X-ray of Robinson Cano's left hand that didn't reveal a season-ending injury.
"Every hand that has been X-rayed has come back poorly,'' said manager Joe Girardi, who lost Curtis Granderson twice and Mark Teixeira for most of the season to hand injuries. "We had to go to a foreign country to get a good one.''
The positive news on Cano meant the Yankees could enjoy the 7-1 laugher over the Blue Jays in front of 34,047 that was fueled by two homers from Alfonso Soriano, one apiece from Mark Reynolds and Alex Rodriguez and seven shutout innings from Pettitte.
AP
DRILL & THRILLS: The Yankees got a scare when Robinson Cano (above with trainer Steve Donohue) had to leave the game after getting drilled in the first inning, but Alfonso Soriano and Andy Pettitte did more than enough to ensure a 7-1 victory over the Blue Jays. Soriano hit two homers, including No. 400 of his career, and made a leaping catch in the eighth inning, and Pettitte pitched seven shutout innings.
Soriano clubbed a three-run homer in the first against lefty J.A. Happ, who fractured Granderson's right forearm in spring training, and got him for a solo blast in the third for Soriano's 400th career homer.
"I didn't want to happen what happened around 2,000 [hits],'' said Soriano, who slumped as he approached that milestone. "When I got the first one I thought, 'Get it out of the way.' Thank God it happened.''
Armed with a 4-0 lead before he took the mound without Cano at second, Pettitte cruised to a third straight victory and improved to 10-9.
"Everything was working pretty good,'' said Pettitte, who allowed five hits in his seven frames. "Obviously, getting the lead early helped me be aggressive. You get a lead like that and the last thing you want to do is walk guys. My command was good and my stuff was pretty good.''
Cano believed he was in trouble when Happ's 90 mph fastball caught him on the fatty part of the outside of the hand.
"It was a lot of pain. I was a little concerned,'' said Cano, who remained in the game, scored on Soriano's three-run homer but exited before the home first and was replaced by Eduardo Nunez. "I was hurt. It missed the bone by an inch.''
Cano guessed he could play Friday. Even though the Yankees must have his bat and Gold Glove defense if they are to catch the A's for the second wild-card spot, they will be extremely careful with their No. 3 hitter.
"It's swollen right now. The last thing you want to do is aggravate it,'' said Cano, who had a compression wrap on his hand to reduce the swelling.
The victory allowed the Yankees to stay 4 1/2 games behind the A's and 7 1/2 lengths back of the AL East-leading Red Sox.
Rodriguez's 651st homer and second in as many nights was to center field, and landed in the level beyond the Rogers Centre wall. He is nine home runs away from tying Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time list, and receiving a $6 million bonus from the Yankees for doing it.
"I'm starting to get my legs under me,'' said Rodriguez, who laced a single in the ninth. "So far, so good.''
When Nunez caught a spike in the artificial turf in the eighth inning, Girardi moved Reynolds from first to second and will play Reynolds there tonight if Nunez can't play.
"I thought I broke my knee,'' said Nunez, who stayed in the game but was lifted for a pinch-runner in the ninth after singling.
The offensive support came after the Yankees scored nine runs in their previous four games — three of them losses. During that stretch they batted .212 (28-for-132) overall and .087 (2-for-23) with runners in scoring position.
The power shower was effective, and if this is what Pettitte will be like the remainder of the season, it will be a big benefit. Yet, the news Cano didn't suffer a season-ending injury trumped all of that.
george.king@nypost.com
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