Hal Steinbrenner remains confident that the New York Yankees will claim the American League East despite a recent slide that has allowed the Toronto Blue Jays to take a half-game lead in the division.

"I said in the offseason several times that if we stayed healthy, which is something we haven't been able to do the last couple years, and if the middle of the lineup produced, which they didn't do last year, then we were going to be contenders, and we are," Steinbrenner said. "It's still ours to lose."

The Yankees had a seven-game lead over the second-place Blue Jays on July 28, but Toronto has surged since trading for David Price and Troy Tulowitzki.