NEW YORK -- Mike Mussina had been the rock of the Yankees' rotation over the past three months, throwing at least six innings in 14 of his past 15 starts.

Wednesday night, the Blue Jays picked up that rock and threw it around Yankee Stadium.

Toronto used a nine-run fifth inning -- the biggest frame by a Yankees opponent this season -- to win its first game of the series, taking a 9-5 decision from New York.

"You have to find ways to prevent the big innings and minimize damage," Mussina said. "I didn't do that today."

Mussina was charged with eight runs -- all in the fifth -- on six hits and two walks. He struck out four, but his two-game winning streak was snapped, dropping him to 12-8.

Hideki Matsui was one of the few bright spots for the Yankees' offense, going 3-for-4 with a two-run double in the seventh, accounting for New York's first two runs.

The Yankees remain tied for the American League Wild Card lead, as the Indians lost to the Devil Rays and the A's defeated the Tigers, forming a three-way tie for the top spot.

Mussina was cruising along through four innings, even taking home a milestone ball, as the second inning marked the 3,000th of his career. Mussina, who became just the 34th pitcher in AL history to reach that mark, keeps the ball from every 500th inning he throws.

"I got there," he said of his milestone. "I don't know how much further it looks like I'm going, but I got there."

After allowing a one-out double to Frank Catalanotto in the first, Mussina got a double play and retired the next 10 batters. He struck out Shea Hillenbrand to start the fifth, but that was the last batter Mussina would retire.

"I didn't warm up well, and it felt like one of those days when it was going to be a real struggle from the beginning," Mussina said. "It wasn't my best stuff, even though it looked pretty good for a while."

Mussina loaded the bases with a walk and two singles, then forced a run home when he hit Eric Hinske on the hand. The Jays collected a second run without a hit when Mussina walked Orlando Hudson to make it a 2-0 game.

"I'd rather have him hit a good pitch down the line -- or even a bad pitch," Mussina said. "I'd rather have that happen than walking in a run and hitting a guy and forcing in a run."

Russ Adams doubled in a pair of runs, then Catalanotto singled in another to boost the Jays' lead to 5-0.

"The base hit by [Adams] was the one that really hurt," Mussina said. "I had him 1-2 or 2-2 and left a curveball up over the plate. That's the one that was frustrating, because if I get an out there, maybe it's a two- or three-run inning instead of what it turned out to be."

Vernon Wells capped the inning -- and sent Mussina to the showers -- with a three-run blast.

"I think he was frustrated with himself," manager Joe Torre said of Mussina. "It looked like he just tried to overthrow the ball once he got himself in trouble."

"I don't know if they were seeing the ball or what, but they were laying off some tough pitches," Wells said of his teammates. "If you do that and force him to get the ball up, you have a better chance of getting good at-bats, and guys were able to do that."

The eight-run fifth was the third such inning in Mussina's career, tying a career high. The last time the right-hander gave up that many runs in a single frame was Sept. 24, 2003, against the White Sox.

"I was trying to figure out how to get people out," Mussina said. "It was working for a while, but it just stopped working. It's disappointing to have a game go like that when I thought I may have figured out a way to get through it."

Felix Rodriguez relieved Mussina, allowing one more run on two hits in the fifth.

Blue Jays starter David Bush held the Yankees' offense in check, tossing six shutout innings to earn the win. Bush allowed just five hits, striking out seven, to improve to 3-7.

"We didn't get anything going against Bush," Torre said. "He kept us off guard, and we didn't have any timing. He kept us off balance and threw a lot of strikes."

Torre decided to use opportunity to rest some of his starters, pulling Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield and Jorge Posada from the game in the top of the seventh.

The Yankees, who close out the four-game series against the Blue Jays with a Thursday matinee, have 11 more games until their next off-day, part of a stretch of 17 consecutive games without a day off.

"My only concern is how many games we've been playing in a row," Torre said. "You don't like to take guys out, but I felt it was the best thing to do with where we were and a day game tomorrow."

Bernie Williams added a three-run home run -- the first pinch-hit homer of his career -- in the ninth to slice the lead to four, but the Yankees couldn't complete the comeback.

"It's strange; this game is very unpredictable," Torre said. "You think everything is rolling in your direction and something that doesn't figure happens. That's why you play."