OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Almost every time the Oakland Athletics have been in danger of toppling this season, Barry Zito has propped them back up -- and when Zito needed help in his latest rescue effort, Eric Chavez provided it.

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Chavez broke a tie with a two-run single in the seventh, and Zito recovered from consecutive losses for his 16th victory as the A's beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 Tuesday night.

After losing two straight for the first time all season, Zito (16-5) pitched eight innings of four-hit ball, striking out seven and allowing just one earned run. Of all the remarkable statistics Zito has posted this season, perhaps the most impressive is his 12-1 record in starts following an A's loss.

"Any time you're pitching after a loss, it's a bigger deal,'' Zito said. "I get up for it, but I also try to stay focused on my job. I didn't know if we'd get enough runs to win tonight, but I thought I was on my game pretty well.''

With another dominant outing in the Coliseum, where he is 17-1 since June 2001, Zito joined Boston's Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe for the AL lead in victories.

But the A's have struggled all season against the Blue Jays,
losing six of their first seven meetings. Oakland blew a 3-0 lead
in the sixth by committing two errors and allowing two unearned
runs -- one when Orlando Hudson tripled and scored after Terrence
Long's throw to third caromed away from Chavez.

"We didn't want to let a game like Barry pitched go to waste,'' Chavez said. "I felt a little bit responsible for not grabbing that throw at third base, so it felt great to get the big hit.''

In the seventh, Toronto starter Chris Carpenter (4-5) walked
John Mabry and Ramon Hernandez. Two outs later, reliever Mark
Hendrickson walked Miguel Tejada to face Chavez, who singled cleanly to left.

"You've got to get the leadoff guy in a game like that,'' said Carpenter, who allowed six hits and four walks over six innings. "We came back and got the three runs off Barry, who's been pitching well all year, and you can't give him that opportunity again.''

Jermaine Dye hit a three-run homer for the A's, who snapped their five-game losing streak to Toronto and won for the ninth time in 13 games.

Orlando Hudson doubled and tripled for the Blue Jays, who tied
it on Vernon Wells' two-run double in the sixth. Toronto lost for
the fifth time in seven games.

Billy Koch pitched a wild ninth against the team that traded him
last winter, walking his first two batters and allowing a
run-scoring grounder to Brian Lesher before striking out
pinch-hitter Tom Wilson for his 29th save in 34 chances.

"We got ourselves in a position to tie the game, but it's tough against him,'' Toronto manager Carlos Tosca said. "When you live and die with your closer, usually you're going to have some roller-coaster rides.''

Dye hit his 14th homer -- his second in two games against Toronto
-- in the fourth inning against Carpenter, whose curveball is nearly
the equal of Zito's flashy looping pitch. It made for a compelling
matchup, with hitters from both teams getting frozen by big curves.

"Our team's built around pitching,'' Zito said. "Our offense gets hot sometimes, but as long as the starting pitching holds up and the offense picks us up when we have a rough outing, then we're OK.''

Zito, who was outpitched by Lowe and Detroit's Mark Redman in his previous two starts, retired the Blue Jays' first nine hitters
before Hudson's double leading off the fourth.

Long dived and nearly caught Hudson's triple in the sixth, but his throw to third bounced off Hudson and into the outfield.

After Dave Berg singled, Tejada then made an error on Shannon
Stewart's grounder. Wells drove home both runners with a double to left.

But Zito settled down immediately, retiring Toronto's next seven
hitters until Koch relieved.

Game notes
Oakland 2B Ray Durham was pulled out of the lineup at the last minute Tuesday night after his uncle died. Manager Art Howe said Durham, who was particularly close to his uncle, would have had trouble concentrating. ... With six victories in their first seven games this season against Oakland, Toronto has won the season
series for the first time since 1998. ... Hendrickson played for the Sacramento Kings during his NBA career. ... Many A's fans in the small crowd of 17,466 booed when they saw Koch coming in. They were hoping Zito would get the chance to finish.