TORONTO (Ticker) -- Erick Almonte did his best to ease some concerns.
Making his first start in place of an injured Derek Jeter, Almonte singled, homered and drove in three runs as the New York Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays by holding on for a 9-7 triumph.
The sweep gave the Yankees road wins in the first three games of the season for the first time since 1942 and for just the fifth time in their illustrious history. New York rocked Toronto pitching for 27 runs in the series.
Jeter went down for at least a month in the series opener and Enrique Wilson filled in Tuesday. But the job now belongs to Almonte, a 25-year-old defensive standout who has not hit consistently in the minor leagues.
In this one, Almonte had an RBI single in the second and added a two-run homer in the third as New York bolted to a 9-1 lead.
"I just tried to put the ball in play in that situation," Almonte said. "I thought it was a double and then I saw the umpire gave the home run sign, so I kept running. It's probably the best game I've had in my life. The way I hit the ball and played defense, I'm really happy with the way I played today. My teammates told me to go out there and relax and be confident with myself."
"I was happy for the kid, the home run was a real bonus," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "He certainly was smiling when he hit it. I liked the way he approached it."
Mike Mussina (1-0) became the third Yankees starter in as many games to record a victory, surviving six rocky innings. After Jose Contreras was hit hard, Chris Hammond struck out two of the four batters he retired.
Juan Acevedo, filling in for injured closer Mariano Rivera, struck out one in a perfect ninth for the save.
Toronto starter Mark Hendrickson (0-1) was hit ripped for seven runs and 10 hits in 1 2/3 innings.
"He made some good pitches that were hit," Blue Jays manager Carlos Tosca said. "He'll be all right. You've got to be at the top of your game when you face their lineup and unfortunately, we've given up a few runs here in this homestand. We'll get it straightened out."
New York struck for a run in the first on Todd Zeile's first homer as a Yankee and broke open the game in the second.
Former Blue Jay Raul Mondesi led off with a double and took third one out later on a wild pitch. Almonte roped a single up the middle for a 2-0 lead and Alfonso Soriano followed with a base hit. Zeile, who likely will serve as a bench player for Torre, made it 4-0 with a double to the left-center field gap.
"I was anxious to get in there," Zeile said. "It's a little bit unusual, given my history, to go a couple of days without playing."
Jason Giambi reached on an infield hit and Williams pushed the Yankees' advantage to 5-0 with a double. Hideki Matsui had an RBI groundout before Jorge Posada capped the seven-run outburst with a double.
After Carlos Delgado hit his first homer of the season in the second, Almonte ripped a two-run shot to right-center field for a 9-1 cushion.
Toronto began its comeback in the fourth on an RBI double by Vernon Wells and a run-scoring single by Josh Phelps.
The Blue Jays added a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Shannon Stewart and torched Contreras for three runs in the seventh.
Orlando Hudson doubled with one out and scored on pinch hitter Greg Myers' single to left. After a strange forceout, Frank Catalanotto doubled in a run and Wells delivered a two-base hit to draw Toronto within 9-7.
With Delgado representing the tying run at the plate, Torre opted for lefthanded specialist Hammond, who struck out the Blue Jays' slugger on four pitches.
"Hammond was great, he stopped the bleeding for us," Torre said. "The four outs he got were huge."
Hammond cruised through the eighth and Acevedo did the same in the ninth.
