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Tuesday, Sep. 12 7:05pm ET
Neagle gets 7th win with Yankees

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NEW YORK (AP) -- With each big swing, the cheers at Yankee Stadium get louder for Jose Canseco. So do the compliments from his New York teammates.

Canseco again showed why he might be a force in October, going 3-for-3 and hitting his 446th career home run to lead Denny Neagle and the Yankees over the Toronto Blue Jays 10-2 Tuesday night.


	Denny Neagle tips his cap as he laves to a standing ovation at Yankee Stadium. He pitched 7 2/3 effective innings.

"This team is very offensively explosive," Canseco said.

Canseco drove in three runs and scored three as the Yankees won for the 10th time in 13 games. New York trimmed its magic number for winning the AL East to 13 over second-place Boston and 11 against Toronto.

"It's nice to have him on our side," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "Sure, he's got some holes. But if you make a mistake against him, it's not a single. He can light it up for a while if he gets going."

The Blue Jays, who had won three in a row, were blunted in their bid to move up in the AL wild-card race. Toronto remained three games behind Cleveland, the wild-card leader.

Neagle (7-4) won his fourth straight start, pitching 7 2/3 effective innings. He gave up eight hits, struck out seven and, with his father in the box seats, walked off to a standing ovation.

Neagle was at his best in the fifth inning, right after Alex Gonzalez hit an RBI single that made it 6-2 and left the bases loaded with no outs.

The lefty retired Chad Mottola on a tricky popup as first baseman Tino Martinez made an over-the-shoulder catch when the ball blew back fair in shallow right. Triple Crown candidate Carlos Delgado then grounded into a double play started by Martinez, with Neagle covering first.

"You practice that in spring training, but you don't see it too often," Neagle said.

Said Blue Jays manager Jim Fregosi: "I think that was really the turning point in the game."

By then, Canseco had done most of his damage.

Canseco was obtained on waivers from Tampa Bay on Aug. 7. Torre, who been surprised by the acquisition, recently talked to the 36-year-old slugger.

"I remember I called in Josie and said, 'Just stay with it.' "

Now, Canseco is getting a more regular turn at designated hitter because Glenallen Hill has been slumping.

"I came into a difficult and delicate situation," Canseco said. "I'm the type of hitter who likes to play every day, but whatever Joe has in store is OK."

Canseco hit an RBI single in a three-run second that put the Yankees ahead 4-1 against Joey Hamilton (2-1). In the fourth, he lined a two-run homer into the left-field seats.

"Anytime you can just have the threat of Jose Canseco in your lineup, it's a big addition," Neagle said.

Canseco's 15th homer of the season, and sixth for the Yankees, put him six behind Carl Yastrzemski for 22nd place on the career list. The shot also earned Canseco a huge ovation.

"As a New York Yankee, the crowd has been great to me. I feed off that," he said.

After singling in the sixth, Canseco got an even bigger cheer as stepped up in the seventh. He drew an intentional walk that loaded the bases with two outs and Ryan Thompson, making his first start of the season in center field for ailing Bernie Williams, greeted reliever Roy Halladay with a three-run double.

Derek Jeter walked and scored on David Justice's double in the Yankees first. Chuck Knoblauch hit a two-run triple past Mottola, who made an ill-advised dive for the ball in right field, in the second.

Mottola, the MVP of the Triple-A International League this season, was the fifth player picked overall in the June 1992 draft. Jeter was taken sixth.

Game notes
Williams did not play for the seventh time in eight games. He has a sore right knee. ... RHP David Cone will start for the Yankees on Friday night against Cleveland. He dislocated his left shoulder catching a pop-up at Kansas City on Sept. 5. ... Neagle was 8-2 with Cincinnati before being traded to the Yankees during the All-Star break. ... Jeter's 12-game hitting streak ended. ... Toronto 3B Tony Batista, who has 38 home runs, was hitless in four at-bats, leaving him in a 6-for-70 slump. "He looks like he's a little tired," Fregosi said. ... Knoblauch is 2-for-21 since coming off the disabled list. ... The Yankees have outhomered opponents 21-2 in the last nine games.