ESPN.com Toronto/NY Yankees recap

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Saturday, Apr. 7 1:05pm ET
Michalak gets first MLB win for Jays

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

NEW YORK (AP) – Chris Michalak sat in the Toronto Blue Jays' clubhouse in Yankee Stadium before his first major league start Saturday and watched one of his favorite movies -- 'Rudy.'


	Chris Michalak, left, got things started against the Yankees and Billy Koch finished them off.

A few hours later, the 30-year-old rookie left-hander from Notre Dame was holding back tears while talking about the adversity he overcame to get his first big league win, a 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees.

"I watched 'Rudy' this morning and got a little choked up," said Michalak, who pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings. "There are a lot of things in there that I can relate to. They told him he'd never make it. And I heard the same thing."

Michalak, who last pitched in the majors in 1998 with Arizona and has spent parts of nine professional seasons with seven organizations, had only 5 1/3 innings of major league experience before Saturday.

He equaled that total against the three-time defending World Champions and helped Toronto win its fourth in a row by blanking the Yankees on four hits. He struck out five and walked two.

"That's beyond my wildest dreams right there," said Michalak, who was helped by home runs by Shannon Stewart and Jose Cruz Jr. "It's something I can't really put into words right now. It just means that all the hard work, the blood, the sweat and tears paid off."

Michalak, who was signed by Toronto in November and was a non-roster invitee to Blue Jays camp, pitched against the Yankees twice in spring training.

"He changed speeds very well today," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "He had a great spring training against us as well, and he did it to us again."

Blue Jays manager Buck Martinez said Michalak's years of seasoning in the minors showed.

"He's got a lot of innings under his belt," Martinez said. "He was a little bit anxious I'm sure, pitching here. But at the same time, he pitched out of some tough situations."

Michalak was drafted in 1993 by Oakland and played in the Arizona, Texas, Anaheim, Tampa Bay and Los Angeles organizations -- playing with 10 different minor league teams -- before hooking on with Toronto. He said he'll give the game ball to his wife, Shannon, who was back home in Chicago.

"She's been behind me all the way," Michalak said, his eyes filling with tears. "She's supported me the whole time -- through all the tough times."

Jorge Posada hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Yankees. New York put runners on first and second with two outs, but Derek Jeter struck out against Billy Koch to end it.

"It was exciting baseball," Michalak said. "What better way to end a game. That was great."

Jeter was in the Yankees' lineup for the first time this season, going 1-for-5 with an infield single. He was activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game after being sidelined with a strained right quadriceps.

"I was jumping a little bit at the plate," Jeter said. "I thought I ran well today and wasn't uncomfortable. I felt fine."

Kelvim Escobar pitched a perfect eighth and left with a 3-0 lead.

Koch relieved to start the ninth. After David Justice reached on first baseman Carlos Delgado's error, Posada homered. With two outs, Scott Brosius doubled and Chuck Knoblauch walked before Koch fanned Jeter for his second save.

"He made a great 3-2 pitch and he got me," Jeter said.

Orlando Hernandez (0-1) made his first start of the season for the Yankees following extra conditioning in Tampa, Fla., for a sore right elbow. He struggled through 4 1/3 innings on a cold day at Yankee Stadium.

El Duque allowed three runs, five hits, struck out five and walked five on 95 pitches -- 53 for strikes -- and went deep into counts throughout.

"He got into pitch-count trouble early, and he threw more pitches than we wanted him to," Torre said.

Toronto took a 1-0 lead on Stewart's leadoff home run in the third.

The Blue Jays made it 2-0 in the fourth when Cruz sent El Duque's first pitch into the second row of the right-field upper deck. Toronto scored another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Brad Fullmer.

The Yankees put two runners on with one out in the sixth to chase Michalak. Pedro Borbon struck out Justice and Paul Quantrill got Posada to ground out to end the threat.

Game notes
Delgado reached base in eight consecutive plate appearances before lining out in the seventh against Mike Stanton. ... Knoblauch received a standing ovation after making a feet-first sliding catch of Raul Mondesi's line drive. ... The Yankees optioned infielder D'Angelo Jimenez to Triple-A Columbus of the International League to make room for Jeter.