TORONTO – Asdrubal Cabrera hit a two-run homer, Jason Donald added a solo shot and the Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 Sunday.
Major league home run leader Jose Bautista, Aaron Hill and Yunel Escobar all hit solo homers for Toronto, but the Blue Jays still lost for the sixth time in seven games against the Indians.
Called up from Triple-A Columbus to make his second big league start, right-hander Jeanmar Gomez (2-0) allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out two.
Gomez took the roster spot of reliever Kerry Wood, who was traded to the New York Yankees on Saturday, and stepped into the rotation after the Indians moved Josh Tomlin up by a day when Jake Westbrook was scratched from Saturday's start and traded to St. Louis.
Five Cleveland relievers combined to work the final four innings. Tony Sipp pitched 1 2-3 innings, Frank Hermann got one out in the seventh, Rafael Perez got two outs in the eighth and Joe Smith got the third before Chris Perez wrapped it up in the ninth for his 12th save and second in two games.
Perez, who got out of a bases-loaded jam in Saturday's 2-1 win, was threatened again in this one, with Travis Snider hitting a leadoff single and going to second on Dewayne Wise's sacrifice. But Perez escaped when Escobar flied out and Bautista struck out swinging
The Indians jumped on Toronto right-hander Jesse Litsch (1-5) in the first. Trevor Crowe drew a leadoff walk and scored when Cabrera hit a two-run homer that bounced off the top of the right-field wall, his second.
Hill opened the second with a homer off the left-field foul screen, his 15th.
Toronto tied it in the third when Vernon Wells hit a two-out double, Adam Lind walked and Hill followed with an RBI single. Lyle Overbay ended the rally by striking out looking.
Cleveland regained the lead in the fifth. Crowe doubled, Litsch slipped while trying to field Cabrera's bunt single and Shin-Soo Choo walked before left-hander Brian Tallet came on in relief. Tallet walked Carlos Santana to force in a run, and another scored when Matt LaPorta grounded into a double play.
Donald hit a two-out solo drive to left in the sixth, his third.
Escobar and Bautista cut it to 5-4 with back-to-back drives in the seventh, the eighth time this season the Blue Jays have hit consecutive homers. Escobar chased Sipp with a shot to left, his third, and Bautista drilled Hermann's first pitch down the left-field line for his 32nd home run.
The Blue Jays lead the major leagues with 161 homers and have gone deep in 13 consecutive games, hitting 31 in that span.
Litsch has won just once in nine outings since coming off the disabled list June 9 after missing more than a year following elbow surgery. He allowed four runs and six hits in four-plus innings.
NOTES: Cleveland DH Travis Hafner (shoulder) missed his fourth straight start but took batting practice before the game. Jordan Brown made his major league debut as Cleveland's DH. ... Toronto OF Fred Lewis and 3B Edwin Encarnacion were held out of the starting lineup. Snider played left, Wise was in right and Bautista moved to third.
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