A's Beat Jays For 5th Straight

May 6, 1999 / 11:45 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Gil Heredia didn't think he would be the pitcher to get the Oakland Athletics back to .500.

Heredia pitched 6 2-3 strong innings and Matt Stairs homered as the Oakland Athletics won their fifth straight with a 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday night.

Related Links

Game Summary

Baseball features:

MLB Standings

Complete MLB Schedules

"I was thinking it would be great to sweep a team and get to .500," Heredia said. "The odds were against us, especially with a pitcher like Chris Carpenter pitching against this Heredia guy."

Heredia (2-2) allowed one run and six hits, struck out two and walked one to lift Oakland (15-15) to the .500 mark after May 1 for the first time since Aug. 12, 1996.

"I give myself credit, but it's a team effort and we're playing good," Heredia said.

Billy Taylor pitched 1 2-3 innings for his seventh save, striking out Shawn Green with a man on second to end the game.

"In the first month of the season we've played contending teams," said Taylor, whose team has played the Yankees, Indians, Angels, Mariners, Red Sox, Orioles and Rangers. "So for this team to be .500 it feels great."

Tony Fernandez drove in both Toronto runs with a pair of RBI singles.

After a 12-4 start, the Blue Jays have lost 11 of their last 14 games, including three straight.

Stairs gave Oakland a 1-0 lead in the second inning with his seventh homer of the season, a towering shot to right on a 3-2 pitch.

Carpenter (3-2), who pitched a complete game, then retired nine straight until Scott Spiezio singled in the fifth. Carpenter then balked, threw a wild pitch and gave up RBI single to Mike Macfarlane.

"I felt great, but it's still a loss and what this team needs right now is a win," Carpenter said.

Jason Giambi's sacrifice fly in the sixth made it 3-0.

The Blue Jays made it 3-1 in the bottom of the inning when Alex Gonzalez hit a leadoff double, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Fernandez's two-out single.

Toronto scored a run in the eighth when Fernandez hit an RBI single off reliever Buddy Groom.

Carpenter gave up three runs and six hits. He struck out even and walked one.

Notes: Heredia had great control, throwing 61 strikes in 81 pitches. He threw first pitch strikes to 20 of the 27 batters he faced. ... The A's have scored 43 runs during their winning streak ... Oakland's John Jaha is day-to-day with a strained right hamstring. ... Carpenter has not allowed more than three runs in any of his six outings this season. ... After 13 home games, the Blue Jays are averaging 25,243 fans per game. Through the first 13 home dates last season, the team averaged 28,799.