NEW YORK — Joba Chamberlain struggled with his control, walked off the mound in the third inning and threw his glove in the dugout.
His first major-league start was a memorable one, all right. Just not for the reasons he had hoped.
Chamberlain lasted just 2 1/3 innings and Roy Halladay held the New York Yankees in check despite some control problems of his own, leading the Toronto Blue Jays to a 9-3 victory on Tuesday night.
Alex Rios extended his hitting streak against the Yankees to 24 games and David Eckstein had three RBIs for Toronto, which patiently concentrated on Chamberlain’s pitch count and forced New York to use six pitchers in all.
Halladay (7-5) won his fourth straight decision and improved to 5-1 with a 2.58 ERA in his last seven games. He allowed two runs and six hits in six innings.
The former AL Cy Young Award winner got off to a rough start but quickly settled down and improved to 11-5 with a 3.03 ERA against New York.
A sellout crowd of 53,629 that included Chamberlain’s father, Harlan, roared as the hard-throwing right- hander was introduced with the starting lineup and gave the youngster a standing ovation before he threw his first pitch.
His initial offering to leadoff hitter Shannon Stewart was a ball — a sign of things to come. Chamberlain touched 101 mph on the Yankee Stadium scoreboard but walked three and threw 38 pitches in the first as Toronto took a 1-0 lead on Rios’ groundout.
Chamberlain retired the side in order in the second and got Marco Scutaro to fly out to right to begin the third. But Rios walked on four straight balls, and manager Joe Girardi removed the 22-year-old after 62 pitches, about what the Yankees had planned.
