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Morrow, Jays blank Mets

May 20, 2012 - 12:43 AM Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Brandon Morrow tossed his second shutout of the season as the Toronto Blue Jays took a 2-0 win over the New York Mets in the second of three games in an interleague set.

Morrow (5-2) gave up just one walk and three hits while striking out eight for the Blue Jays, who have won four straight. Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar each had two hits and an RBI in the win.

"That was a great game that he threw out there today," said Toronto manager John Farrell. "We got a couple of timely hits there, but the real story today was Brandon, he was fantastic out there."

Lucas Duda's double was the only extra-base hit for the Mets, who have dropped four of five.

Miguel Batista started on the mound, but left after two innings with stiffness in his lower back. Jeremy Hefner (0-1), who was called up from Triple-A Buffalo prior to the game, gave up two runs on four hits with five strikeouts over five innings in his second appearance in the majors.

"I'm not trying to change anything with the way I approach things up here," said Hefner. "I'm just trying to make my pitches and when they put the ball in play let the guys behind me do their job."

The game remained scoreless until the fifth inning when Toronto went on top. With two outs, Jeff Mathis kept the inning alive with a single and Johnson followed with a double. Escobar then singled home Johnson for a 2-0 lead.

Morrow, meanwhile, was nearly untouchable as he retired the first seven batters before Ronny Cedeno singled with one out in the third.

He then set down the next 13 batters before Duda doubled with two outs in the seventh. Morrow struck out Ike Davis to end the frame.

Morrow then set down the side in the eighth and got a good play from Jose Bautista in the ninth.

After giving up a leadoff walk to Scott Hairston, Morrow got Andres Torres to fly out. Mike Baxter then singled to right as Hairston moved to third. However, Bautista nailed Baxter trying to take second on the hit and Daniel Murphy followed with a line out to short to end the game.

Game Notes

Morrow has three shutouts in his career. He has not allowed more than one earned run in his last six games...The Blue Jays improved to just 6-14 lifetime against the Mets...Dillon Gee pitches for the Mets in the finale on Sunday while Henderson Alvarez will help Toronto go for the sweep.