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Cecil pitches Blue Jays to 6-0 win over Angels

May 25, 2010 - 6:11 AM ANAHEIM, Calif.(AP) -- The Los Angeles Angels were the last team in the majors to get shut out this season. Brett Cecil was mostly responsible for keeping their bats silent.

Cecil allowed only two hits in 7 1-3 innings, Adam Lind drove in a pair of runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Angels 6-0 on Monday night.

"It's hard to shut us out," losing pitcher Joe Saunders said. "We've got guys who can do everything - hit the ball out of the ballpark, steal bases, bunt for base hits and move runners. But what can you do? I pitched on the wrong night. They scratched out a few runs against me - and the way Cecil was pitching, that was going to be enough."

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.

"Against a lineup like that, you can never really back down because it can turn around on you real fast," Cecil said. "I just kept telling myself to just keep pitching my game and be aggressive. But I don't think there was any time tonight where I thought it was going to be a helluva night for me. But I'm glad it was."

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.

"If you look at the two ballclubs, I've got to believe that he was better tonight than he was against Cleveland because this was a lot better lineup he was facing," manager Cito Gaston said.

The Angels, who had homered in 10 consecutive games, managed only two baserunners during the first seven innings. Kendry Morales walked in the fifth but was stranded at second when Cecil used his slider to retire Matsui and Mike Napoli on fly balls.

"He kept us off-balance with his off-speed stuff - more off-speed than I've seen from any lefty," Torii Hunter said. "When he had to throw the fastball, he threw it 90, 91. I think he threw like 15 fastballs tonight, and the rest was off-speed - cutters, sliders, changeups, things like that. We were flat tonight, but at the same time, you can't discredit their pitcher."

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.

"It's not really frustrating," Saunders said. "It's a good positive for me, knowing that I'm starting to get back to what I know I can do. But team-wise, it's frustrating that we can't pull out more wins. We just need to stay positive, and we need to execute better. We need to play the way we're capable of playing. We just haven't been doing that consistently this year."

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, including Lind's RBI double and a run-scoring single by Vernon Wells.

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. ... 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."