It's no Yankee dandy

Faulty first start by Chamberlain

NEW YORK - Joba Chamberlain struggled with his control, walked off the mound in the third inning, and threw his glove in the dugout.

His first major league start was a memorable one, all right. Just not for the reasons he'd hoped.

Chamberlain lasted 2 1/3 innings and Roy Halladay held the New York Yankees in check despite some control problems of his own, leading the Toronto Blue Jays to a 9-3 victory last night.

"I wanted to get my team a lot deeper into the game and it wasn't very good," Chamberlain said. "That's what it comes down to. I've got to be better, that's for sure."

Alex Rios extended his hitting streak against the Yankees to 24 games and David Eckstein had three RBIs for Toronto, which patiently concentrated on Chamberlain's pitch count and forced New York to use six pitchers total.

"We worked him good, we really did," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He's going to be really good once he builds up his stamina. He's got overpowering stuff."

Halladay (7-5) won his fourth straight decision and improved to 5-1 with a 2.58 ERA in his last seven games. He allowed two runs and six hits in six innings.

The former AL Cy Young Award winner got off to a rough start but quickly settled down and improved to 11-5 with a 3.03 ERA against New York.

"I felt like for the most part we were pretty good when we had to be," Halladay said. "It was one of those games where you were grinding all the time."

Halladay was around long after Chamberlain departed from his much-anticipated start.

A sellout crowd of 53,629 that included Chamberlain's father, Harlan, roared as the hard-throwing righthander was introduced with the starting lineup and gave the youngster a standing ovation before he threw his first pitch.

His initial offering to leadoff hitter Shannon Stewart was a ball - a sign of things to come. Chamberlain touched 101 miles per hour but walked three and threw 38 pitches in the first as Toronto took a 1-0 lead on Rios's ground out.

Chamberlain retired the side in order in the second and got Marco Scutaro to fly out to right to begin the third. But Rios walked on four straight balls, and manager Joe Girardi removed the 22-year-old after 62 pitches, about what the Yankees had planned to limit him to.

Chamberlain walked off the mound and sheepishly removed his cap to acknowledge the cheering crowd as he approached the dugout. He threw his glove down as he climbed down the steps and sat down with a dejected look.

Dan Giese (0-1) relieved Chamberlain and allowed a run in 3 2/3 innings.

"I was mad at myself," Chamberlain said. "You know you've only got so many pitches and I didn't do a very good job of conserving those pitches."

"It's his first start," Girardi said. "He wasn't quite as sharp as he probably wanted to be but in saying that, he kept us in the game."