CC Sabathia took the blame. Manager Joe Girardi spread it around.

No matter whose mistakes cost the Yankees in their sixth loss in nine games, they need to straighten things out: the second-place Orioles are coming to the Bronx for three games starting Friday.

Sabathia (13-4) failed to hold two leads, and New York made three errors and went homerless at Yankee Stadium in consecutive games for the first time this season. It all added up to an 8-5 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.

‘‘We didn’t play well, that’s the bottom line,’’ Girardi said. ‘‘We had chances offensively; didn’t get it done. We had chances defensively; didn’t get it done.’’

The Yankees’ inability to win back-to-back games for the first time since beating Texas three in a row Aug. 13-15 has hurt them in the standings. The Yankees went 3 for 17 with runners in scoring position despite hitting six doubles.

Shortstop Yunel Escobar had a two-run homer, three doubles, and five RBIs for the Blue Jays as they won their first series since July 27-29.

White Sox 8, Orioles 1 — Rookie Dylan Axelrod took a three-hitter into the eighth inning as visiting Chicago spoiled the Baltimore debut of Joe Saunders. Gordon Beckham had three hits and three RBIs and Alexei Ramirez went 3 for 4 with two RBIs for the White Sox.

Rays 8, Rangers 4 — Evan Longoria homered twice as Tampa Bay roughed up Matt Harrison (15-8) in Arlington, Texas, to snap a four-game losing streak.

Athletics 8, Indians 4 — Josh Donaldson hit a three-run homer as visiting Oakland beat Cleveland to take over the AL wild-card lead by one game over Baltimore.

Royals 1, Tigers 0 — Bruce Chen (10-10) allowed four hits over a season-high eight innings, and Eric Hosmer’s infield single in the fourth drove in the only run in host Kansas City’s win over Detroit. Anibal Sanchez (2-4) was the tough-luck loser.

Nationals 8, Marlins 4 — Bryce Harper homered twice for the first time in his career and first-place Washington snapped a five-game losing streak by beating host Miami. Harper hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning and added a solo homer in the fifth, giving the rookie 14 this season.

Dodgers 10, Rockies 8 — Joe Blanton (9-12) pitched effectively into the eighth for his first win with Los Angeles and A.J. Ellis hit his first career grand slam in Denver. Hanley Ramirez also homered to help the Dodgers withstand a rally that saw Colorado score seven runs in the eighth.

Reds 6, Diamondbacks 2 — In Phoenix, Chris Heisey hit two of Cincinnati’s four home runs, including the tying two-run shot in the seventh inning. Reds starter Matt Latos (11-4) pitched seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.

Mets 3, Phillies 2 — Lucas Duda hit a two-run homer and Matt Harvey (3-3) had a sharp outing as New York beat host Philadelphia. Tyler Cloyd (0-1) took the loss filling in for Cole Hamels, who was scratched because of a gastrointestinal illness.

Pirates 5, Cardinals 0 — Pedro Alvarez hit his 26th homer and Wandy Rodriguez (9-13) worked six solid innings as host Pittsburgh blanked St. Louis.

Padres 8, Braves 2 — Chase Headley hit a two-run single and Eric Stults (4-2) won his fourth straight as host San Diego beat Atlanta for its ninth win in 10 games.

Giants 6, Astros 4 —Hunter Pence hit a three-run homer and Joaquin Arias drove in two with a triple as visiting San Francisco beat Houston.

Brewers 3, Cubs 1 — Mike Fiers (8-6) tossed 7⅓ solid innings to lead visiting Milwaukee over Chicago. Fiers allowed four hits and struck out six.

Twins 10, Mariners 0 — Samuel Deduno dominated for seven innings, Trevor Plouffe homered and had four RBIs, and host Minnesota beat Seattle.