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SportsTicker 19y

Pavano cruises as Yankees defeat Blue Jays

TORONTO -- Mike Mussina finally won and Gustavo Chacin
finally lost.

Mussina labored through 5 1/3 innings for his first win of the
season as the New York Yankees got to Chacin in a 4-3 victory
over the Toronto Blue Jays for a sweep of the two-game series.

Mussina (1-1) had not been particularly sharp in his first three
starts, all losses by the Yankees. The veteran righthander had
his rough spots in this outing as well but was staked to an
early lead and made it stand up with the help of the bullpen.

With a 4-0 cushion, Mussina allowed three RBIs singles around a
pair of outs before getting out of the fifth. He was chased in
the sixth, when Toronto loaded the bases but did not score.

Mussina also escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third when he got
Corey Koskie to bounce into a 1-2-3 double play. In all, he
gave up three runs, 10 hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings,
striking out five as he registered his 212th career win.

Chacin came home to a hero's welcome after winning his first
three starts on the road. The rookie lefthander was coming off
eight scoreless innings in Sunday's win at Texas and tacked on
three more before the Yankees got to him.

Chacin (3-1) gave up four runs, six hits and two walks in six
innings, striking out five.

The Yankees have won two in a row for the first time since
taking the first two games of the season from Boston. Toronto
stranded 13 runners and dropped a series for the first time this
year.

In the fourth, Gary Sheffield double home a run, took third on
the throw and scored on a sacrifice fly by Hideki Matsui.

The Yankees made it 4-0 in the fifth, loading the bases before a
sacrifice fly by Derek Jeter and an RBIs single by Bernie
Williams.

Frank Catalanotto, Shea Hillenbrand and Vernon Wells had RBIs
singles in the bottom half to make it 4-3. The Blue Jays had a
chance to tie it in the sixth, but lefthander Buddy Groom got
Gregg Zaun to pop out and Felix Rodriguez got the red-hot
Hillenbrand on a smash that Jeter turned into a forceout.

Rodriguez, Mike Stanton and Tom Gordon worked through the eighth
and Mariano Rivera pitched a shaky ninth for his third save.

Wells had three hits.

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