NEW YORK (AP) -- David Cone proved there is still some life left in his right arm.

Cone bounced back from a pounding in Toronto, holding the Blue Jays to three hits in seven scoreless innings Friday night as the New York Yankees won 6-0 for his first victory of the season.

	Cone

After Cone (1-2) allowed eight runs in three innings in an 8-2 loss to Toronto last Saturday, critics wondered whether the tens of thousands of pitches had finally caught up to the 37-year-old right-hander.

But manager Joe Torre said before the game he remained confident in Cone, despite his 2-7 record and 5.98 ERA in 17 regular-season starts since pitching a perfect game against Montreal last July 18.

Cone, however, knew something wasn't right.

"What I was doing wasn't working so I needed to try something new," Cone said. "My mechanics were all off."

Some slight adjustments in his delivery -- moving from the extreme right of the pitching rubber to the left side and adding swinging his arms before starting his delivery -- appeared to do the trick for Cone, who lowered his ERA from 10.70 to 7.66.

"He was all pumped up about this start," Torre said. "He didn't want a day off yesterday. He made some adjustments in the bullpen. Whether it's in his mind or actual, it obviously helped everything because he seemed comfortable. He was certainly in a great groove for us."

Cone, known for inventing pitches from various arm angles, threw twice with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre between starts -- one more than usual -- moving his feet on Sunday and adding the rocking motion Tuesday.

"I hadn't seen someone do that in a long time,' Stottlemyre said of the rocking. "He felt like it would help his timing a bit. Coney's a rhythm guy and this seemed to work."

The Blue Jays managed only five baserunners and only one made it as far as second against Cone. Cone, known for his high pitch counts, needed only 84 pitches to get through seven innings.

"He didn't look himself against us in Toronto," Darrin Fletcher said. "Tonight he looked like the old David Cone. Everything looked sharp. The fastball was getting up and in on lefties and the splitter was moving real good."

It was the second straight shutout for the Yankees, who got five scoreless innings from Andy Pettitte in a 2-0 win over Minnesota on Wednesday. New York hadn't thrown consecutive shutouts since July 1998 against Tampa Bay and Baltimore.

The Yankees, who scored only six runs in a three-game series against Minnesota this week, scored four in the third off Kelvim Escobar (2-3) with help from Toronto's shoddy defense.

Shane Spencer started the rally with an infield single. Escobar and catcher Darren Fletcher hesitated to field the slow roller down the first-base line and Fletcher then hit Spencer in the back with his throw.

One out later, Chuck Knoblauch singled and Derek Jeter walked, loading the bases. Paul O'Neill followed with a grounder to third baseman Tony Battista, who misplayed the backhand for an error that allowed the first run to score.

Bernie Williams then hit a two-run double and Tino Martinez added an RBI groundout.

Jorge Posada, who homered from both sides of the plate Sunday in Toronto, hit a solo shot in the sixth inning.

Escobar, who pitched a nine-hitter in Toronto's victory against the Yankees last Saturday, allowed five runs -- three earned -- and seven hits in six innings.

"I was happy with the way Escobar threw the ball," manager Jim Fregosi said. "We just didn't help him much."

Game notes
The Yankees threw consecutive shutouts at Yankee Stadium for the first time since July 4-5, 1989 against Detroit. ... Toronto's Raul Mondesi is hitless in his last 23 at-bats. ... Knoblauch returned to the lineup after missing three games with a sprained left wrist. ... O'Neill also was back after leaving Wednesday's game in the third inning because of blurred vision. ... Toronto's Carlos Delgado went 1-for-3 with two strikeouts against Cone, making him 3-for-32 with 16 strikeouts in his career against the right-hander.