CLEVELAND – Jhonny Peralta homered to snap a seventh-inning tie, and the Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 for their first three-game winning streak of the season.

Peralta hit a 2-2 pitch from Jason Frasor (1-3) over the wall in right-center for his fifth home run, helping Cleveland win for the fourth time in five games.

Arthur Rhodes (2-1), the fourth of six pitchers used by Indians manager Eric Wedge in a game delayed twice by rain, retired all three batters he faced for the win.

Bob Howry worked a perfect eighth and Bob Wickman pitched the ninth for his 11th save in 13 tries, retiring Orlando Hudson on a grounder with a runner on third to end it.

Play was halted for 28 minutes in the middle of the first inning and again for 1 hour, 51 minutes in the bottom of the third.

A 72-minute rain delay Friday night forced each club to go to its bullpen earlier than usual. That was the case again Saturday, when Cleveland’s Kevin Millwood and Toronto’s Gustavo Chacin had their starts cut short.

Five Indians relievers allowed only one hit and one walk over the final six innings Saturday and have yielded just one run over 11 1-3 innings in the series.

Toronto right-hander Pete Walker gave up one hit and one walk in 3 2-3 innings before turning it over to Frasor.

Peralta hit the right-hander’s fifth pitch an estimated 406 feet into the rain-soaked bleachers. It was Cleveland’s 41st homer, and 30th with the bases empty.

Three stolen bases helped Toronto go ahead 2-0 in the second inning. Alex Rios got a one-out single and stole second. After Russ Adams walked, the Blue Jays executed a double steal as Ken Huckaby was called out on strikes. Hudson followed with a two-run single.

Cleveland tied it in the bottom half on Ben Broussard’s two-run double.

Millwood allowed two runs, five hits and two walks in three innings. The right-hander, signed as a free agent in December, was coming off his first AL win – he allowed one hit in eight shutout innings Monday night against the Angels.

Chacin gave up two runs, two hits and three walks in 2 1-3 innings. The rookie left-hander is winless in three May starts after going 4-1 with a 2.48 ERA in April.

Notes: Indians OF Coco Crisp went 1-for-4 and is batting .419 (13-for-31) during a nine-game hitting streak. … Rios was caught stealing in the sixth by Victor Martinez, who is 8-for-34 throwing out runners this year. … OF Casey Blake, a career third baseman until this season, robbed Hudson of extra bases with a running catch before crashing into the right-field wall in the seventh.

AP-ES-05-14-05 1829EDT