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BALTIMORE(AP) His work done,
Brett Cecil
joined friends and family to watch the postgame fireworks display at Camden Yards.
Cecil outpitched
Jason Berken
in a duel between struggling rookies, and the
Toronto Blue Jays
beat the
Baltimore Orioles
2-0 Friday night to snap a three-game skid.
Cecil (3-1) allowed four hits over six innings to earn his first win in five starts since May 15. It was a delightful homecoming
for Cecil, who grew up in Dunkirk, Md., and played for the University of Maryland before being drafted by Toronto in the first
round of the 2007 draft.
''I only left 15 tickets but ... there's a ton more people that came,'' the left-hander said. ''I saw guys up there that I
haven't seen in a while that came down to congratulate me. I love coming home to play.''
Cecil came in with a 6.23 ERA and yielded 12 runs in his previous two starts, but he had no trouble against the Orioles.
''Playing in front of the home crowd was awesome,'' he said. ''I heard a lot of people out there.''
Scott Downs
, the fourth
Blue Jays
reliever, worked a perfect ninth for his ninth save.
Berken (1-6) gave up two runs and five hits in 5 2-3 innings. The right-hander lowered his ERA from 6.25 to 5.87 but remained
winless since beating Toronto in his first major league start on May 26.
''I felt pretty good the way I threw the ball tonight,'' Berken said.
But Cecil was better.
''It happens sometimes,'' Berken said. ''Brett threw really well tonight. You just tip your cap to him.''
Both teams were without their managers. Baltimore's Dave Trembley started a two-game suspension for actions following his
ejection in Seattle on Tuesday night, and Toronto's
Cito Gaston
left to attend the funeral of his sister. Dave Jauss replaced Trembley and Brian Butterfield took over for Gaston.
Asked how it felt to watch in the stands, Trembley replied, ''I'd rather go to the dentist. That's tough. We got one done.
Now I've got one more to go.''
Alex Rios
hit two doubles and scored a run for Toronto, but
Scott Rolen
's 25-game hitting streak ended with an 0-for-4 performance.
That might have been the only downer on a night in which the
Blue Jays
(44-44) won for only the third time in 13 games. The slide dropped Toronto under .500 for the first time this season.
''I think (we) continue to show a lot of resiliency,'' Butterfield said. ''You can feel good about the players in this clubhouse,
you feel good about the leadership in this clubhouse, you feel good about the leadership that Cito provides. So it's definitely
a great win in a tough division.''
The
Blue Jays
broke open a scoreless game with a two-run fifth.
Lyle Overbay
ended a 3-for-37 skid with a leadoff single and went to third on a double by Rios. Dave Dellucci followed with an RBI groundout
and
Raul Chavez
doubled in a run.
''If we would have said Berken would get us that late in the game and given up two runs, we would have taken it,'' Trembley
said. ''He pitched great. We didn't score any runs. That's the game.''
Toronto used a walk and a two-out double by Rios to put runners on second and third in the second, but Berken got Dellucci
to ground out.
Baltimore loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom half before
Cesar Izturis
grounded out.
''He was good,'' Izturis said of Cecil. ''He was throwing strikes, his sinker was very good, and the changeup. He struggled
in the second inning, but he got out of it.''
NOTES: Baltimore's
Luke Scott
extended his hitting streak to 10 games, tying his career high. ... Izturis (appendix) was activated from the 15-day DL before
the game. ... Toronto extended its run of games with at least one double to 18.
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