Yunel Escobar hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the visiting Chicago White Sox 4-2 Friday night.
Escobar atoned for botching a suicide squeeze earlier in the game, lacing a two-base hit to right-center field off Mark Buehrle to score Jayson Nix from first base. Escobar finished 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to eight games.
Casey Janssen (2-0) earned the win with an inning of scoreless relief while Jon Rauch earned the first opportunity in Toronto's new closer-by-committee setup by securing his sixth save of the season. Buehrle (4-4) allowed three runs in seven innings while throwing a season-high 120 pitches.
Blue Jays starter Kyle Drabek surrendered just two runs on three hits over 6 2/3 innings but continued to struggle with his control. He walked five, giving him a major league-high 42 free passes on the season.
Three of those were issued to White Sox designated hitter Adam Dunn, who rebounded from a four-strikeout performance in Thursday's win by earning four walks Friday. It was his first four-walk game since April 23, 2006 while he was with the Cincinnati Reds.
Rajai Davis led the way for the Jays with three hits and his team-leading 14th stolen base. He was also caught stealing twice for the first time in his major-league career.
Chi. White Sox | Toronto | |
Mark Buehrle | Player | Kyle Drabek |
Loss | W/L | No Decision |
7.0 | IP | 6.2 |
3 | Strikeouts | 4 |
9 | Hits | 3 |
3.86 | ERA | 2.70 |
Chi. White Sox | Toronto | |
Juan Pierre | Player | Rajai Davis |
3 | Hits | 3 |
0 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 0 |
5 | TB | 5 |
.750 | Avg | .750 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Chi. White Sox | 5 | 0 | 7 | .156 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
Toronto | 12 | 0 | 17 | .343 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |