Music: {allcanada} Lind, Arencibia bounce back in Blue Jays win

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

{allcanada} Lind, Arencibia bounce back in Blue Jays win

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OAKLAND -- One demoted in the batting order, the other coming to terms with an early removal the previous night, Adam Lind and J.P. Arencibia both regrouped Wednesday afternoon in making sure another strong outing from Brandon Morrow didn't go to waste.

Lind ripped a two-run homer after getting dropped from the cleanup spot to eighth in the lineup, while Arencibia crushed a solo shot after getting pinch-hit for with runners on the corners in the ninth inning Tuesday, leading the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

Morrow (4-1) continued his recent run of domination with six innings of one-run ball, his scoreless run coming to an end at 23.2 innings when Jonny Gomes delivered an RBI single in the fifth to cut into a 2-0 deficit.

But the Blue Jays (17-14), fresh off their seventh blown save in a 7-3 loss Tuesday, kept things together, extending their lead on Colby Rasmus's run-scoring single in the sixth, Arencibia's blast in the seventh and Edwin Encarnacion's solo shot in the eighth (ending an 0-for-21 skid), while getting some handy relief work to finish off the Athletics (16-15) before 14,815 at Oakland Coliseum.

The home runs would have been especially sweet for Lind and Arencibia, who were part of a larger shakeup that also included Francisco Cordero's removal from the interim closer's role in favour of Casey Janssen, who pitched the ninth for his first save of the season.

Lind, just 2-for-18 on the road trip coming in, was batting lower than seventh for the first time since 2010 and accepted manager John Farrell's decision by saying, "I'm not really doing a whole lot in the fourth spot so hopefully I can help the team out more."

He did that with a single in his first at-bat off Tyson Ross (1-3) and clubbing a ball over the wall in right to open the scoring in the fourth, perhaps moving to a more consistent swing and approach.

Arencibia, meanwhile, met with Farrell in the morning after getting pulled for Omar Vizquel in the ninth on Tuesday night, learning the thinking behind his manager's decision -- he was looking to avoid the double play and thought a safety squeeze was the right play -- and sought to turn the page.

"I lost a lot of sleep over it, it didn't really sit too well with me," said Arencibia. "Throughout my career I've always driven in runs, I've always been a guy in those situations and I feel like that's when I thrive. He's our manager and I support every decision and all I want to do at the end of the day is win, that's all I care about.

"What I told him is hopefully in future situations, I'm looked upon as a guy they want in that situation 10 out of 10 times."

Farrell made a point of explaining to Arencibia that he hadn't lost any confidence in him with runners in scoring position, and he simply was playing to the situation.

Asked if he understood, Farrell replied: "Maybe receptive to the point of believing in himself, which is ... I commend him for his thoughts."

The home runs were the third of the season for Lind and Arencibia, and improved play from both would go a long way in lengthening a lineup that definitely needs it.

Luis Perez surrendered an RBI single to Josh Reddick in the seventh that made it 4-2 and left two runners on for Carlos Villanueva, who bridged the gap cleanly to Janssen in the ninth.

Morrow, meanwhile, allowed four hits and a season-high four walks while striking out 10 batters for the seventh time in his career to win his fourth consecutive start.

While not as clean as his three-hit shutout in Anaheim last week, Morrow continued to flash a strong ability to escape trouble.

Two of his walks came in the first, when he allowed the opening two batters to reach before settling down to escape unscathed.

His scoreless innings streak dated back to April 23, when he beat Kansas City 4-1.

Note: Outfielder Travis Snider was activated off the triple-A disabled list Wednesday and went 0-for-3 with an RBI as the designated hitter for Las Vegas in a 2-1, 10-inning victory at Oklahoma City. Snider had been out since jamming his right wrist trying to make a diving catch on April 26. …