Blue Jays Halt Yanks' Streak

Chris Carpenter took pleasure in beating the Yankees.

"These guys were on a streak and I shut them down," he said Friday after rebounding from the worst start of his career to stop New York's eight-game winning streak with an 8-3 Toronto victory.

Carpenter (1-3), who lost his first three starts this season, pitched a five-hitter for his seventh career complete game, striking out three and walking none.

With the Blue Jays up 6-0, there was a moment of tension in the fifth inning when New York reliever Todd Erdos hit Carlos Delgado in the lower back with a pitch. Delgado glared at Erdos, and plate umpire Bill Miller walked in front of Delgado as Delgado walked to first.

"If somebody goes down, then somebody on the other side has to go down," Delgado said. "You don't try to start a war, but you have to put your foot down."

"I don't think he hit me on purpose," Jeter said. "He did me a favor."

Toronto's Brad Fullmer and Marty Cordova were hit by pitches in the fourth inning by Ramiro Mendoza (1-1).

"I know nothing was going on on our side," Yankee manager Joe Torre said. " They may have wanted to get even."

The Yankees, who at 11-4 hae baseball's best record, were on their longest winning streak since taking nine straight from Aug. 7-14, 1998.

"We played kind of dead," Jeter said. "One of the strengths of this team is that we make pitchers work, but Carpenter threw just 88 pitches. We we're a little too aggressive."

Carpenter got seven outs in first pitches to batter.

"It's so much easier to pitch when you're up 7-0 early in the game," he said.

Toronto took a 2-0 lead in the first when Raul Mondesi tripled in a run and scored on Delgado's single. The Blue Jays added four runs in the fourth on Delgado's homer, Alex Gonzalez's two-run single and Jose Cruz Jr.'s RBI double.

Following Chuck Knoblauch's leadoff single in the first, Carpenter retired 12 straight. The Yankees didn't get their second hit until Shane Spencer led off the sixth with a single. Clay Bellinger then singled and Paul O'Neill singled both home.

Bernie Williams added a run-scoring grounder in the ninth.

After taking a perfect game into the seventh inning against Kansas City last weekend, Mendoza (1-1) allowed six runs and seven hits in four innings.

Delgado, Alex Gonzalez and Mondesi each drove in two runs for the Blue Jays, who have won three straight. Toronto was just 2-10 against the Yankees last season.

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