Brett Cecil pitches 2-hit ball into 8th inning, Blue Jays blank Angels 6-0

Cecil pitches Blue Jays to 6-0 win over Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Brett Cecil pitched two-hit ball into the eighth inning, Adam Lind drove in a pair of runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-0 on Monday night.

Cecil (4-2) struck out three and won his second consecutive start since allowing eight runs in two innings May 14 at Texas. He got a no-decision in that one when the Blue Jays rallied for a 16-10 victory.

The Angels’ only hits against the 23-year-old left-hander were a two-out single by No. 9 batter Kevin Frandsen in the third inning and a one-out single by Hideki Matsui in the eighth. Cecil walked his next batter and was lifted after 110 pitches.

Matsui was bumped to the No. 7 spot in the order for the first time this season because the Blue Jays started a lefty. Frandsen made his fifth start of the season at third base and third in a row in place of slumping Brandon Wood.

On May 3 at Cleveland, Cecil held the Indians to one hit over eight innings in a 5-1 victory after taking a perfect game into the seventh.

The Angels, who had homered in 10 consecutive games and were the only team in the majors that hadn’t been shut out, managed only two baserunners during the first seven innings. Kendry Morales walked in the fifth but was stranded at second when Cecil retired Matsui and Mike Napoli on fly balls.

Joe Saunders (3-6) was charged with three runs, four hits and five walks over 6 1-3 innings. The left-hander has a 1.57 ERA over his last four starts, but only two wins to show for it. He beat the Blue Jays on April 17 at Toronto during the Angels’ three-game sweep.

Fred Lewis opened the game with a triple off the right-field wall and scored on Lind’s sacrifice fly. John Buck drove in Toronto’s second run with a single in the fourth.

The Blue Jays broke it open in the seventh with four runs. Edwin Encarnacion, who hit five homers during Toronto’s three-game interleague series at Arizona, drew a leadoff walk and Saunders retired Lewis with his 115th and final pitch.

Jason Bulger walked Aaron Hill, then gave up Lind’s RBI double over the head of left fielder Juan Rivera and a run-scoring single by Vernon Wells with the infield in. Wells scored when reliever Bobby Cassevah mishandled Lyle Overbay’s comebacker and had to settle for the out at first. Two more walks followed, loading the bases, and Alex Gonzalez came home when shortstop Erick Aybar muffed Buck’s line drive for an error.

NOTES: The Blue Jays recalled LHP David Purcey from Triple-A Las Vegas after designating LHP Dana Eveland for assignment. Purcey is 4-9 with a 5.81 ERA in 21 big league starts with Toronto, but will be used in a short-relief role. … The first returns are in for the All-Star fan balloting, and Matsui is second in the race for AL designated hitter spot behind Texas’ Vladimir Guerrero, who leads him by nearly 76,000 votes. Matsui, last year’s World Series MVP with the Yankees, is hitting .229 with five homers, 22 RBIs and 32 strikeouts in 153 at-bats. Guerrero, who signed with the Rangers as a free agent less than a month after the Angels added Matsui, is hitting .339 with 10 homers, 37 RBIs and just 18 strikeouts in 171 at-bats. … Wood, batting .156, is in a 7-for-62 dry spell and is struggling with a hip flexor. But he was able to take batting practice again after manager Mike Scioscia told him not to take any swings for two days in order to relax and, in Scioscia’s words, “decompress.”