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Lind atones for baserunning blunder, leads Blue Jays to win

Jun 3, 2007 - 11:03 PM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Adam Lind went from zero to hero in one inning.

Lind ripped a three-run double to atone for a baserunning miscue and lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-3 triumph over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday in the finale of a four-game series.

It was the fifth victory in the last seven games for the Blue Jays, who faced an early 3-0 deficit Sunday before rallying to improve to 5-2 on their 10-game homestand.

A rookie outfielder, Lind ruined a possible rally in the fifth inning with a misguided blunder on the basepaths. Trailing, 3-0, Toronto loaded the bases with no outs before Matt Stairs struck out.

Vernon Wells lofted a fly ball to left field to plate Royce Clayton from third base with the Blue Jays' first run. But Lind, who attempted to advance to third on the play, left second base too early and was doubled off on an appeal play to end the inning.

"I just left the base a little bit early," Lind said. "I don't know why I didn't go back. Our third base coach (Brian Butterfield) was like, 'Hey, you're going to win the game for us,' and that's what happened."

After Troy Glaus and Frank Thomas were retired to start the sixth, Aaron Hill, Jason Phillips and Royce Clayton all hit consecutive singles to load the bases against reliever Nick Masset (2-2).

That set the stage for Lind, who lined Masset's 2-2 curveball into the right-center field gap to clear the bases and give the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead.

"It feels good to just finally do something productive for our squad," said Lind, who tied his career high with three RBI. "(Masset) left a curveball up. I thought he might throw me another fastball because he beat me twice, but he just left a curve up in the zone."

"I thought it was a good pitch, I just didn't get it down far enough," Masset said. "It's very aggravating. I thought I attacked the hitters, got two quick outs, and then a couple dinged balls on this turf and things happen."

The one-run advantage was more than enough for Toronto's bullpen, which yielded just one hit and two walks over six scoreless innings to pick up injured starter Shaun Marcum.

Lefthander Brian Tallet (2-1) allowed one walk over three hitless frames, and Brian Wolfe, Scott Downs and Casey Janssen combined to work the seventh and eighth innings.

Jeremy Accardo pitched around a leadoff double in the ninth to notch his seventh save.

"We knew that Chicago was struggling to score some runs," Tallet said. "Their offense is a little down right now, but at the same time we've got some guys with tremendous stuff in the bullpen."

"Once again, we got great pitching," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "It's hard to describe the job Accardo's done this year - he's only given up runs in one inning all year."

Marcum left prior to the fourth inning with tightness in his back. The righthander surrendered three runs, four hits and three walks with four strikeouts over the first three frames.

"(My back) was a little stiff at the start of the game, but I thought it would loosen up as the game went on," Marcum said. "I couldn't follow through on all my pitches and I was leaving some up in the zone. I think I was trying not to do anything to tweak my back."

White Sox rookie starter John Danks pitched well in his 10th career outing, yielding one run, four hits and three walks with four strikeouts in five innings.

"I feel like I did a decent job of keeping us in the game," Danks said. "I would have liked to go a little longer, but if we can get a lead into the bullpen more times than not, we'll come out victorious."

Jim Thome and Rob Mackowiak homered for Chicago, which has dropped seven of its last eight games.

Toronto first baseman Lyle Overbay left the game in the third inning after getting hit on the right hand by a pitch from Danks. He suffered a broken bone in the hand and will be out four to six weeks.

"I've never been on the disabled list," Overbay said. "It's always going to hurt right off the bat. I think I knew when I got out (to play defense) and I couldn't close my hand that it was a little more sore than I thought."