(Best E Casino) - With a chance to make up some ground in the American League East standings, the New York Yankees forgot to bring their offense with them as they opened a three-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday. They'll attempt to rebound when the division rivals face off again this afternoon at the Rogers Centre.

With both Boston and Tampa Bay both coming out on the losing end of their respective games on Friday, the Bronx Bombers had the perfect opportunity to close the gap at the top of the standings, but instead the club simply bombed. The Yankees had a total of just two hits, a double by Derek Jeter and a single from Alex Rodriguez, in the 5-0 loss.

Although he suffered his third loss in five decisions, Yankees starter Joba Chamberlain still pitched well, with three runs allowed on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings. The young hurler also fanned nine without walking a batter, yet still could not keep up with Toronto ace Roy Halladay.

Halladay was spectacular during his complete-game effort, allowing just the two hits and a walk while striking out eight as he lowered his earned run average down to 2.71 in the process.

Matt Stairs and Rod Barajas both posted home runs, the former plating three runs altogether, while Lyle Overbay and Adam Lind tallied three and two hits, respectively, for Toronto.

Now winners of four straight, the Jays are just a game under .500 but still 9 1/2 games out of first place in the AL East, compared to 6 1/2 games out for the Yankees.

Following a bit of a shakeup in the rotation, the Yankees now have Darrell Rasner slated to start this afternoon. A product of Nevada-Reno, the Silver State native has hit the skids in recent weeks, losing three straight decisions and seven of his last eight since beginning 2008 with three consecutive victories.

The right-hander was knocked around for six runs on 10 hits and a trio of walks, while striking out two and hitting a batter in five innings versus Boston on the Fourth of July.

Rasner, who is 1-0 in his career versus the Blue Jays, has been unable to get beyond the fifth inning in any one of his last five games.

As for Toronto, the squad is countering with Jesse Litsch on the mound today. The right-hander, who is 0-1 this season versus the Yankees and has a 1-2 record in four career games against New York, was also involved in some tweaking in his team's rotation and was pushed back a day.

Litsch began the season quite strong, with seven wins in eight decisions, but since the start of June the Jays have lost all but one of the seven games in which he has started.

Most recently Litsch was pounded for eight hits and six runs in just 5 1/3 innings versus the Angels in a 7-1 setback on Sunday. Litsch tallied just two strikeouts and hit a batter for the second straight outing.

Toronto continues to have trouble finding power in the lineup, placing second- to-last in the AL in home runs with just 64 over the course of 93 games. However, the Jays pitching staff has done well enough to keep the squad in contention more often than not, having posted a 3.66 ERA (third-best in the AL).

Over the last six games the Yankees have hit the skids in terms of offense, batting a collective .215 with a mere two home runs (Rodriguez and Melky Cabrera). Cabrera has just three other hits in his last 22 at-bats, while Jeter has had to accept two doubles in his last eight hits.

The Yankees have won four of seven meetings with Toronto this year.