NEW YORK – Hideki Matsui homered twice and drove in a career-high six runs in the first three innings, powering the New York Yankees to an 11-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.

Javier Vazquez (13-6) allowed three runs in the first inning but yielded only two doubles and a single the rest of the way before being removed after the eighth inning.

It was Matsui’s first multihomer gamer in 11/2 seasons since coming to the major leagues from Japan. His three-run shot in the first inning offset one hit by Carlos Delgado in the top half.

Matsui, who finished 3-for-5, stretched the Yankees lead to 5-3 in the third with a solo homer off Sean Douglass, and he capped off the six-run inning with a single that drove in two.

Douglass (0-2) never made it out of the third – he was ejected for hitting Yankees catcher John Flaherty in the knee with a pitch three batters after Matsui’s second shot. The ejection came without a warning from umpires.

Angels 3, Royals 0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kelvim Escobar (6-8) struck out nine in seven innings, and Robb Quinlan hit a two-run homer in a three-run fourth that led the Anaheim Angels over the Kansas City Royals 3-0 Friday night.

Tim Salmon had an RBI double for the Angels, who pitched their eighth shutout of the season, one behind Boston, the AL leader.

Escobar (6-8) allowed seven hits and walked one. Francisco Rodriguez struck out the side in the eighth, and Troy Percival finished with a perfect ninth for his 19th save in 24 chances.

Darrell May (8-12) gave up six hits in seven innings for the Royals, who lost for just the second time in six games. He retired nine of his first 10 batters, needing only 26 pitches, then got into trouble in the fourth, when Jose Guillen singled with two outs and Quinlan homered to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 17 games, a team record for rookies.

Athletics 3, Twins 1

MINNEAPOLIS – Eric Chavez hit a go-ahead double in the 11th inning and the Oakland Athletics survived Octavio Dotel’s second straight blown save in a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

Oakland, which moved ahead of Texas back into the AL West lead, led 1-0 before Shannon Stewart homered off Dotel (2-1) leading off the ninth. On Wednesday, Dotel allowing a tying homer in the ninth to the New York Yankees’ Gary Sheffield.

The Twins lost for just the fourth time in 17 games, and still maintain a season-high six-game lead over both Chicago and Cleveland in the AL Central.

But Eric Byrnes singled off Juan Rincon (9-4) with one out in the 11th and Chavez followed with a line drive to the left-center field gap. Jermaine Dye then hit an RBI single up the middle, and the A’s won for the 10th time in 13 games to take a half-game division lead.

Orioles 9, Rangers 1

BALTIMORE – Erik Bedard took a three-hitter into the seventh inning, and the Baltimore Orioles hit three home runs Friday night in their fourth straight victory, a 9-1 rout of the Texas Rangers.

Miguel Tejada, Javy Lopez and Larry Bigbie connected for the Orioles, who scored in each of the first five innings to build a 9-0 lead. Tejada drove in two runs to increase his league-leading RBI total to 99.

The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Rangers, who stranded 10 runners and tied a season high with three errors.

Bedard (5-6) allowed one run on five hits in 6 1-3 innings. The rookie left-hander was replaced with the bases loaded in the seventh, and Todd Williams gave up an RBI single to Michael Young before getting Alfonso Soriano to hit into a double play.

Bedard struck out seven and walked four. He was 1-4 with a 6.43 in six starts in July.

Marlins 7, Brewers 6

MIAMI – Paul Lo Duca hit a two-run single off Dan Kolb with none out in the ninth inning, and the Florida Marlins rallied to beat the error-plagued Milwaukee Brewers 7-6 Friday night.

Kolb’s throwing error fueled the comeback, and he blew a save for only the second time in 32 chances this season. He had converted 17 chances in a row.

Milwaukee allowed five unearned runs, including two each on errors by shortstop Craig Counsell and third baseman Wes Helms.

The Marlins climbed to .500 with just their second win since acquiring five players – including Lo Duca – in trades last weekend.

The Brewers have lost four in a row and 14 of 18 to fall six games below .500 for the first time this season.

With Florida trailing 6-5, pinch-hitter Lenny Harris walked to start the ninth – only the fourth walk given up by Kolb (0-2) in his past 34 games.

Astros 4, Expos 0

HOUSTON – Astros shortstop Adam Everett broke a bone in his left wrist as Houston beat the Montreal Expos 4-0 Friday night behind Roy Oswalt’s five-hitter.

Everett was hit by a pitch from Claudio Vargas in the fourth inning and broke the ulnar bone. Everett, batting .272 with eight homers and 31 RBIs, was taken to a hospital for X-rays. Houston said he will be sidelined for at least four weeks and it was unclear whether he would need surgery.

Oswalt (12-8) struck out eight and walked one in his second shutout of the season, the third of his career. Oswalt, who threw 133 pitches, has won four straight decisions overall, and he improved to 9-0 against Montreal in 13 career starts.

Jeff Bagwell and Jeff Kent drove in two runs each for Houston.

Cardinals 6, Mets 4

ST. LOUIS – Albert Pujols’ third hit snapped a seventh-inning tie, and Matt Morris followed another shaky outing with a strong one, helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets 6-4 Friday night after acquiring star outfielder Larry Walker.

The Cardinals won for the 14th time in 18 games on a night in which they improved the NL’s best offense by adding Walker in a trade with Colorado for Class-A closer Jason Burch and two players to be named.

Walker fills the only void in the lineup for a team that led the NL with a .280 average and was second with 144 homers, helping St. Louis to a major league-best 70-38 record.

The Cardinals have used a variety of players in left field, and now right fielder Reggie Sanders probably will move to left to make room for Walker.

Pujols is 12-for-28 (.429) during a six-game hitting streak with two homers, including a game-winner in the ninth against the Expos on Wednesday. This time, he helped end the Mets’ three-game winning streak.