Wright Paces Yankees, 7-0

When Jaret Wright walked off the mound at Yankee Stadium with an aching right shoulder April 23, he didn’t know whether his season was over.

He returned triumphantly Monday night at New York, giving the Yankees his second straight strong start after a layoff of nearly four months.

Wright got out of a bases-loaded jam in the first and went on to give up four hits in seven innings, pitching the Yankees to a 7-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays that moved New York into a tie for the AL wild-card lead with Oakland and Cleveland.

In that April start, Wright came out after 5 1/3 innings of a 10-2 loss to Texas and his earned-run average stood at 9.15. “There was a lot of doubts whether I’d be able to play again,” he said.

Wright made it back to the major leagues on Aug. 15, pitching 6 1/3 innings in a 5-2 victory at Tampa Bay. In the two starts since he was activated, he has given up two runs in 13 1/3 innings, a 1.35 ERA. He joined Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson to give the Yankees three of their original starting pitchers.

Al Leiter and Shawn Chacon fill out the rotation.

“I think it’s the best our pitching staff has been since I’ve been here, in over a year and a half,” said Alex Rodriguez, who doubled in a run in the eighth to reach 100 runs batted in for the eighth straight season.

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Cleveland 11, Tampa Bay 4 -- Victor Martinez and Ben Broussard hit two-run homers in a seven-run seventh inning at St. Petersburg, Fla.

It was Cleveland’s eighth straight road win and the Indians (69-56) are a season-high 13 games over .500.