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TORONTO (Ticker) -- Tony Fernandez's pinch single in the bottom of the 11th inning gave the Toronto Blue Jays a wild 9-8 victory over the Montreal Expos, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. With one out in the 11th, Raul Mondesi lined a shot into the left-field corner that died near the wall, allowing him to barely beat the throw for a triple. Scott Strickland (1-4) intentionally walked Carlos Delgado and Brad Fullmer to load the bases and the Expos brought in their infield and outfield. The switch-hitting Fernandez batted for Alex Gonzalez and sent a single through the right side of the infield, making him 6-for-12 as a pinch hitter this season. "It was a great win for us because if we lost that game, we would have been down for tommorow's game," Fernandez said. "Everybody knows Tony," Mondesi said. "He's been playing a long time. He did the job for us today." Fernandez's hit capped a game that featured 11 pitchers, eight stolen bases, 32 hits and three homers. One of the homers was an inside-the-park job by Toronto rookie Cesar Izturis. Another was a three-run shot by Montreal's Jose Vidro that came with the Expos one strike away from a loss. Leading 8-5 in the ninth, the Blue Jays handed the ball to Billy Koch, who got two quick outs before hitting Geoff Blum and giving up a single to Peter Bergeron, who had four hits. Vidro belted an 0-2 offering over the right-field wall for his 11th homer, tying it. "The way he fouled off a couple of pitches, I thought he was having some pretty good swings," Blum said. "Koch threw a good sinker to him and got two strikes to him and then I think he fouled off a slider. He came back with another slider and fortunately for us, he left it over the plate. And Vidro's a professional hitter and he's going to stroke those balls." It was Koch's third blown save. Dan Plesac (2-2), the fifth Toronto pitcher, worked two scoreless innings for the win. Montreal had won six of its previous seven games. Toronto had lost four straight and 23 of 32 at SkyDome. Izturis had three of the Blue Jays' 15 hits and two of their six stolen bases. He also scored three runs and provided the game's most exciting play in the sixth. After Luis Lopez's single had given Toronto a 4-3 lead, Izturis hit a liner in the gap that bounced off the glove of left fielder Mark Smith and deflected past center fielder Bergeron. As Bergeron chased the ball, Izturis motored around second and third and headed for home. Second baseman Vidro held the relay for a split second and Izturis slid ahead of the throw on the inside part of the plate. "I saw that the ball was in front of me and then I go to third," Izturis said. "When I go to third, I saw the third base coach, 'Go, go, go,' and I was safe." "It was exciting," Jays outfielder Shannon Stewart said. "That's a rare thing in this game, when you get a chance to hit one. You got to be rooting for him to come on in and it was exciting. I was happy he was able to get that." It was Toronto's first inside-the-park homer since Fernandez had one against Baltimore on September 22, 1998. Jose Cruz Jr. walked, stole second and scored on Mondesi's hit, making it 7-3. Cruz had two hits and two steals. Bergeron's infield hit plated a run in the seventh and a homer by Lee Stevens made it 7-5 in the eighth before Izturis singled, stole second and third and scored on an error. "We came back," said Stevens, who had two hits and two RBI. "It's as demoralizing as you let it get to you. We battled, came back and they won the game in extra innings. The positive thing is we did come back. We battled hard, made them earn it." Michael Barrett had a two-run double in the top of the fifth that gave Montreal a 3-1 lead. Toronto tied it in the bottom half on an RBI single by Cruz and a wild pitch by Expos starter Masato Yoshii. Yoshii allowed three runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. Blue Jays starter Roy Halladay was much better, giving up three runs and eight hits in six innings while striking out a career-high 10. "To be struggling a little bit here lately and to come back and win a game like that late in the game, hopefully it will be a big boost for us," Halladay said. Smith, who had three of Montreal's 17 hits, jammed his left knee and is day-to-day.
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