Reynolds homers in 11th to lead Tribe to 3-2 win over Toronto

4/3/2013
ASSOCIATED PRESS

TORONTO — Mark Reynolds hit a tiebreaking home run in the 11th inning and the Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 tonight.

Reynolds drilled a leadoff shot into the second deck off Sergio Santos (0-1), the fifth Blue Jays reliever.

The homer helped the Indians overcome a blown save by Chris Perez, who surrendered a tying shot by Jose Bautista in the ninth.

The overhauled Blue Jays lost their second straight to begin the season. Toronto's offense has just three runs and nine hits in two games.

Cleveland's Michael Brantley went 4 for 5 with an RBI, the fifth four-hit game of his career.

Matt Albers (1-0) got one out for the win, and Joe Smith finished for his first save.

The Indians took a 2-1 lead in the eighth against reliever Darren Oliver. Nick Swisher led off with a walk and moved to second on Brantley's fourth single. Carlos Santana hit a grounder to third, where Swisher was forced out, but Maicer Izturis' throw to first sailed wide, allowing Brantley to score.

Bautista tied it with a one-out shot to left off Perez in the ninth. Bautista had gone hitless in his first three at-bats, grounding into a pair of inning-ending double plays.

Edwin Encarnacion followed with a walk, but Perez sent it to extra innings by getting Adam Lind and J.P. Arencibia to fly out.

The Indians opened the scoring in the third. Michael Bourn led off with a double just beyond the reach of Izturis at third. Two outs later, Swisher walked and Brantley followed with an RBI single between third and short.

Izturis tied it in the bottom half with a leadoff drive to right, his first, and Toronto's first homer of the new season.

Cleveland starter Ubaldo Jimenez, who lost a career-high 17 games last season and ended the year with nine straight road losses, looked sharp in his season debut. Jimenez allowed one run and three hits in six innings, walked two and struck out six.

Brantley and Santana hit consecutive singles in the sixth, but Blue Jays starter Brandon Morrow ended his outing by getting Reynolds to ground into a double play.

Morrow allowed one run and six hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out eight.

NOTES: Indians LHP Scott Kazmir will miss his first scheduled start of the season, Saturday at Tampa Bay, because of a sore abdominal muscle on his right side. Kazmir will return to Cleveland for tests and rejoin the team before Friday's game against the Rays. ... The Indians claimed right-hander Robert Whitenack on waivers from the Chicago Cubs and optioned him to Double-A Akron.