There was a glimmer of good news to come out of the Yankees' 11-inning loss to Toronto on Monday.

Third baseman Alex Rodriguez was cleared to take full batting practice after doctors examined an MRI of his broken left hand on Monday. The Yankees' third baseman has been out since July 25.

Joe Girardi said Rodriguez and injured pitcher Andy Pettitte were both healing "great" after getting positive results from MRIs on Monday.

There is no specific timetable for either player's return.

A-Rod was batting .276 with 15 home runs and 44 RBIs at the time of his injury. Casey McGehee and Eric Chavez, among others, have played third in place of Rodriguez.

As far as Pettitte goes, Girardi said the left-hander will throw off of flat ground in coming days as he continues to make his way back from a broken left fibula.

Girardi hopes that Pettitte will be able to throw off of a mound later this week.

Pettitte is eligible to come off the disabled list Tuesday and has said in the past that he would like to try and start throwing off a mound around Sept. 1 in order to return this season.

BIG KNOCK FOR JETER: Captain Clutch? Of course. Derek Jeter nearly bailed out closer Rafael Soriano with a solo homer to right to tie the game at 7-7 in the ninth. It was Jeter's second career homer in the ninth inning or later that tied the game or gave the Yankees the lead. ... Nick Swisher went 1-for-6, with a two-run homer in the fifth. Since Swisher was moved up to the No. 2 hole on Aug. 8, he is hitting .342 (29-for-80) with six homers and 20 RBIs. ... Robinson Cano had his second multi-homer game of the season (the other came in June against Johan Santana). On Monday, Cano hit solo shots in the first and fourth off of Henderson Alvarez.

NO KNOCK ON NIX: The Jays broke the 7-7 tie in the top of the 11th thanks to some sloppy Yankees fielding. Mike McCoy, running for Yorvit Torrealba, went from first to third on a botched pickoff from Derek Lowe to Chavez.

McCoy scored when Adeiny Hechavarria tapped a slow roller to Jayson Nix at third. Nix fielded and fired to Chavez to get Hechavarria at first, but McCoy broke for the plate at the perfect time and beat Chavez's throw to the plate.

Neither Jeter nor Girardi faulted Nix on the play. They credited McCoy with perfect base running.

"That's exactly what you teach," Girardi said. "If the ball's hit a little harder, they can't do that, but it was the perfect ball."