Blue Jays 3, Yankees 2

TORONTO – Vernon Wells homered in the 10th inning and Carlos Delgado had a tying RBI double in the eighth to lead the Toronto Blue Jays over the New York Yankees 3-2.

Wells homered off Scott Proctor (1-1) with one out as Toronto avoided a three-game sweep. In the top of the 10th, Wells robbed Derek Jeter of extra bases with a running catch at the wall in center field.

Wells felt responsible for Monday night’s loss against New York after Tony Clark’s double ticked off his glove in left center, scoring the go-ahead run in the 6-5 loss.

Jason Frasor (4-3) pitched two innings for the win.

After New York starter Jon Lieber walked Wells with two outs in the eighth, left-hander Felix Heredia came in to face the left-handed Delgado, who doubled off the wall in right. With New York employing a shift against Delgado, a cutoff man wasn’t in place to take Gary Sheffield’s throw. Shortstop Jeter eventually picked up the ball but it wasn’t in time to hold Wells at third and he scored the tying run without a throw.

A night after hitting his 400th career homer in Tuesday’s victory, Gary Sheffield reached SkyDome’s fifth deck with a first-inning homer off Miguel Batista, just the 12th time a ball has reached the uppermost tier.

New York’s Enrique Wilson fouled a ball off the side of his head in the seventh, but stayed in the game and hit a RBI single two pitches later, giving New York a 2-0 lead. Miguel Cairo replaced Wilson at second to start the bottom of the inning.

Toronto’s Frank Catalanotto hit an RBI single in the bottom half.

Lieber allowed one run on eight hits in 7 2-3 innings. The former 20-game winner has pitched at least six innings in 13 of his 16 starts. A New York starter has gone more than six innings in just five of the last 13 games.

Notes: Yankees right-hander Kevin Brown will likely return from the disabled list Friday and start against the Baltimore Orioles that night. Brown, sidelined since June 9 with a lower back spasm and an intestinal parasite, threw a bullpen session Wednesday and felt good. … Teammate Jason Giambi has also been fatigued because of an intestinal parasite, but manager Joe Torre expects to know more about the slugger’s condition Thursday. … Toronto manager Carlos Tosca moved rookie outfielder Alex Rios to the leadoff spot. Rios, who usually bats seventh, eighth or ninth, went 3-for-5.

AP-ES-07-28-04 2222EDT