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Reyes shines in first start as Indians down Blue Jays

Aug 9, 2008 - 5:47 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Anthony Reyes just needed a change of scenery.

Reyes pitched well into the seventh inning and Ben Francisco drove in a pair of runs as the Cleveland Indians snapped the Toronto Blue Jays' four-game winning streak with a 5-2 victory on Friday.

Reyes (1-0) was acquired from St. Louis on July 26. He was called up from Class AAA Buffalo prior to the game, and allowed one run and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings in his first start since September 12. Once considered the Cardinals' top pitching prospect, Reyes lost his first 10 decisions in 2007 and started the season in the bullpen before being traded.

The 26-year-old righthander struck out four and walked one to record his first win as a starter since beating the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 12.

Reyes said he needed a fresh start.

"I felt I didn't fit in (with the Cards)," Reyes said. "It was hard trying to make people happy there. It made for some long years. I was excited just to start somewhere fresh," he said. "I think with St. Louis, that was probably it for me. I was excited for the opportunity and just excited to be coming here, having a chance to come up here and compete."

Reyes said he is enjoying Cleveland.

"It was great working with (Class AAA Buffalo pitching coach Scott) Radinsky," said Reyes, who went 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA in Buffalo. "And the pitching coach here (Carl Willis) is nice. I see a lot of positives to it. There's more communication here."

"He pitched a good ballgame," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "He was under control and had a good heartbeat."

Francisco and Shin-Soo Choo staked Reyes to a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Francisco belted an RBI double off rookie David Purcey (1-3). Choo followed with a run-scoring double and Franklin Gutierrez capped the frame with a RBI single.

One of Reyes' lone hiccups came in the bottom half of the frame when he allowed three straight hits, inlcuding a RBI single to Matt Stairs that cut the lead to 3-1. It remained that way until Francisco and Choo each singled home a run in the eighth. Kevin Mench made it 5-2 with an RBI single in the bottom of the frame.

Rafael Perez allowed two hits in 1 2/3 innings, and Jensen Lewis worked around a leadoff walk to record his first career save in his second chance.

Toronto manager Cito Gaston, who the team said will return next season, was not happy with their situational hitting.

The Blue Jays were 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base.

"As far as getting some key hits, we weren't able to do that tonight," Gaston said. "We're going to have nights like that, and today ... we just [need to] suck this one up, move on to tomorrow and see what happens then."

In his fifth career start, the 26-year-old Purcey allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.

"He's got a pretty good fastball," Gaston said. "He's throwing that fastball by people, and it's 90-92 miles per hour, so he must be hiding it pretty good, too. I think he's getting better."