The Toronto Blue Jays rode the hot bat of Adam Lind to edge the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 in interleague play on Friday.
Lind belted his fourth home run in his last four games, a two-run shot in the seventh inning, as he pushed the Blue Jays lead to 3-1. Scott Rolen reduced the deficit in the bottom of the seventh, when he hit a solo home run, but Toronto held on.
“I quit trying to feel my way along. I hadn’t been swinging with a lot of authority,” Lind said, explaining his recent success. “I was hitting singles over the shortstop’s head. I started looking to pull the ball and it has worked.”
Photo: AFP
Cincinnati’s Drew Stubbs opened the scoring with an inside-the-park home run in the sixth inning, capitalizing on a mix-up between Toronto outfielders Juan Bautista and Corey Patterson that allowed the deep fly ball to drop between them.
“If I let that bother me, then I’m trying to do it all myself and I’m out of my rhythm,” Blue Jays starter Jo-Jo Reyes said. “I’ve been taught that you can’t let those things get to you. I have a great group of guys here who have welcomed me. I feel wanted here.”
The Blue Jays responded with three runs in the seventh, led by Lind’s blast to give Reyes, who pitched 6.1 innings and allowed two runs on six hits while striking out five, the victory.
Cincinnati starter Mike Leake took the loss, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out three in seven innings.
“I don’t like to use the quality start thing as an indicator,” Leake said. “Yeah, it was a good outing, but I still missed two pitches that came back to haunt. That’s about it.”
TWINS 6, PADRES 5
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Danny Valencia welcomed Joe Mauer back to Minnesota with a three-run home run in the first inning as the Twins held on to beat the San Diego Padres for their fifth straight win.
Mauer played for the first time since April 12, the leg problems finally behind him. Greeted with a standing ovation before his first at-bat, Mauer hit an RBI single, but he later grounded into a double play and left five men on base. The Twins have won 12 of their last 14 games.
Brian Duensing (4-6) picked up the victory with six effective if inefficient innings, and the Padres lost for the sixth time in seven games despite a 4-for-5 performance by Chase Headley. He drove in two runs, and Ryan Ludwick hit a three-run homer in the seventh.
ROCKIES 13, TIGERS 6
In Denver, Chris Nelson hit his first major league home run during a six-run second inning and Carlos Gonzalez homered and doubled to drive in four runs as Colorado downed Detroit.
Rookie Charlie Blackmon added four hits and two RBIs, helping to fuel the Rockies’ second-highest scoring output of the season and improve their winning percentage in interleague competition to .620 (49-30) since 2006, tops in the NL in that span.
NATIONALS 8, ORIOLES 4
In Washington, Jerry Hairston doubled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning as Washington extended its winning streak to seven games despite giving up a season-high 18 hits.
Roger Bernadina homered and Ian Desmond had two hits and two RBIs for the Nationals. Hairston had three hits and scored twice.
Derrek Lee went 5 for 5, and Adam Jones and Nick Markakis had four hits each for the Orioles.
In other interleague action, it was:
‧ Angels 4, Mets 3
‧ Rangers 6, Braves 2
‧ Red Sox 10, Brewers 4
‧ Indians 5, Pirates 1
‧ Rays 5, Marlins 1
‧ Cubs 3, Yankees 1
‧ Diamondbacks 4, White Sox 1
‧ Mariners 4, Phillies 2
‧ Athletics 5, Giants 2
‧ Astros 7, Dodgers 3
‧ Royals 5, Cardinals 4
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