TORONTO – Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui and Bernie Williams each homered and the New York Yankees held on for an 8-7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.

Esteban Loaiza failed to make it out of the fifth inning in another poor start since being acquired from the Chicago White Sox in a July 31 trade for Jose Contreras. Loaiza hung his head when manager Joe Torre came out to the mound with one out in the fifth to remove the right-hander. Loaiza left to boos from Yankees fans scattered throughout SkyDome.

Loaiza, 0-2 with a 7.30 ERA in five starts for the Yankees, is expected to lose his starting job when New York goes back to a five-man rotation after Monday’s off-day. He allowed four runs on seven hits.

Tanyon Sturtze (5-2) pitched 2 1-3 innings for the win. No Yankee starter has posted a win since Jon Lieber beat Seattle on Aug. 13 – 13 games.

Carlos Delgado’s three-run homer off left-hander C.J. Nitkowski cut New York’s lead to 8-7 in the seventh.

Paul Quantrill allowed two runners to reach in the eighth, but Tom Gordon got Orlando Hudson to ground out to end the threat and pitched the ninth for his fourth save.

With the win, New York maintained its 5 games lead over the second-place Boston Red Sox in he AL East.

The Yankees have won nine of 11 this year against Toronto, which has lost four straight and 17 of 23.

Rangers 6, Orioles 4

ARLINGTON, Texas – John Wasdin pitched six strong innings in his return from the minors, and the Texas Rangers handed Baltimore its 11th consecutive loss by beating the Orioles 6-4.

Eric Young reached base in all four plate appearances, with two walks and two singles. He stole a base, scored Texas’ first run and drove in the last two.

With their 11th win in 14 games, the Rangers remained two games behind Boston in the AL wild-card race. They also beat the Orioles for the first time in 10 tries.

Miguel Tejada went 3-for-5, including his 25th homer, in Baltimore’s latest loss.

Indians 6, White Sox 3

CLEVELAND – C.C. Sabathia struck out 11 in six innings and Ronnie Belliard hit a three-run homer to lead the Cleveland Indians over the Chicago White Sox 6-3.

The Indians staked Sabathia to a 5-0 lead and went on to win for just the second time in 12 games.

Sabathia (10-8) tied a career high for strikeouts and won for the first time in three starts. He gave up five hits and two walks and was in command except for a three-run third inning by Chicago.

Astros 15, Cubs 7

CHICAGO – Carlos Beltran hit two home runs and three other Houston players also homered off a shaky Kerry Wood as the Astros beat Chicago 15-7, snapping the Cubs’ five-game winning streak.

Jeff Bagwell and Lance Berkman belted back-to-back solo shots off Wood and Jeff Kent added a homer as Houston won for the ninth time in 12 games, moving back to within six games of Chicago in the National League wild-card race.

Beltran hit a solo homer in the first inning and a three-run shot in the ninth giving him home runs in five straight games.

Roy Oswalt (15-9) allowed six runs in eight innings to get the victory on a hot, muggy day, retiring 13 batters in a row from the fourth inning until two outs in the eighth. David Weathers pitched the ninth.

Oswalt also was involved in a bench-clearing incident following an angry verbal exchange with Cubs catcher Michael Barrett in the second inning, five days after he was ejected for hitting Barrett with a pitch near his head. Both benches gathered near home plate but there were no further incidents. Oswalt later was hit by a pitch by Cubs reliever Kent Mercker, prompting a warning to both sides by home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor.

Mets 9, Dodgers 2

NEW YORK – Gerald Williams singled twice in a six-run first inning and the New York Mets broke out of their offensive funk in a big way, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-2.

Tom Glavine hit an RBI single during the early burst and coasted to his 260th career win. Dodgers starter Wilson Alvarez came out in the second inning with a bruised left forearm after being struck by Cliff Floyd’s hard one-hopper.

Marlins 3, Rockies 0

MIAMI – Ismael Valdez allowed just four hits before leaving in the seventh inning because of an Achilles’ injury, and Luis Castillo hit an RBI single to lead the Florida Marlins over the Colorado Rockies 3-0.

Cardinals 8, Pirates 5

PITTSBURGH – Jim Edmonds hit a pair of two-run homers and matched a career high with five RBIs, leading the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-5.

Edmonds hit a two-run homer in the first inning and added another two-run shot in the third off Ryan Vogelsong (4-11) as St. Louis beat the Pirates for the fifth consecutive time.

Phillies 6, Brewers 1

PHILADELPHIA – Vicente Padilla pitched seven shutout innings for his first win in more than three months, and the Philadelphia Phillies sent Milwaukee to its ninth straight loss by beating the Brewers 6-1.

The Phillies snapped a seven-game home losing streak. They scored all their runs with two outs in the fifth inning, keyed by two-run singles from Bobby Abreu and David Bell.

Rheal Cormier pitched a hitless eighth but Todd Jones gave up Geoff Jenkins’ 20th homer in the ninth, spoiling the shutout bid.

Diamondbacks 4, Reds 3

CINCINNATI – Alex Cintron hit an RBI single with one out in the 11th inning, lifting the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Braves 5, Giants 3

ATLANTA – Barry Bonds hit a three-run shot for his 694th homer, but Chipper Jones’ two-run drive helped the Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3 for their fifth straight victory.

Jaret Wright set a career high with his 13th win. Wright (13-6) also drove in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning bunt.

Expos 10, Padres 3

MONTREAL – Brad Wilkerson homered and had three RBIs, and Tony Batista hit a two-run homer, leading the Montreal Expos to an 10-3 win over the San Diego Padres.

Scott Downs (2-4) allowed eight hits and three runs in seven innings to help end San Diego’s four-game winning streak.

Recalled from Triple-A Edmonton on Thursday, he was making his sixth start of the season.