Yankees Cut Into Red Sox Lead in AL East

Hideki Matsui broke out of a long slump and Phil Hughes picked up his first victory at Yankee Stadium, helping New York win again. But the suddenly surging wild-card leaders also owe a big thanks to the Big Hurt.

Frank Thomas homered three times and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox 6-1 on Monday night, allowing the Yankees to cut the AL East lead to 3 1/2 games. New York beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-5.

It's the closest the Yankees have been since before play on April 11.

"We've come too far and worked too hard to start counting your chips," said Yankees manager Joe Torre, whose club also opened its wild-card lead to 3 1/2 games over the Detroit …