ANAHEIM, Calif. – Marc Rzepczynski pitched two-hit ball over seven innings in a spot start for resting Brandon Morrow, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-0 on Friday night.
Rzepczynski (1-1) retired 14 of his last 15 batters, struck out six and did not walk a batter in his 14th big league start and third this season after getting recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas. The left-hander, who was born in nearby Yorba Linda and lives in Riverside, made his first appearance for the Blue Jays since giving up five runs and nine hits over 4 2-3 innings at Kansas City on July 21.
Scott Downs pitched the eighth and former Angels right-hander Kevin Gregg worked a perfect ninth for his 26th save in 30 chances, completing the three-hitter.
Rzepczynski picked up his first win since last Aug. 21 against the Angels at Toronto. It also was the Blue Jays' 10th shutout, tying Oakland for the AL lead.
Scott Kazmir (8-10) allowed two runs and four hits over six innings for Los Angeles. It was the left-hander's second impressive outing since coming off the disabled list. He was sidelined for 17 games because of shoulder fatigue, after going 0-4 with a 13.73 ERA over his previous four outings.
Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston decided to have Morrow skip a turn in the rotation after last Sunday's 1-0 masterpiece in which he set career highs with 137 pitches and 17 strikeouts and lost his bid for a no-hitter on Evan Longoria's two-out single in the ninth.
One night after a pulsating win against Boston in which they rallied for four runs in the ninth inning against Jonathan Papelbon, the Blue Jays evened their road record at 30-30 in the opener of a nine-game trip.
The Angels capped off a three-game sweep of Kansas City on Wednesday when Bobby Abreu connected in the 10th inning, but were blanked in this one for only the fourth time this season and second time at home. The Blue Jays beat them 6-0 at Angel Stadium on May 24 with 7 1-3 innings of two-hit ball by Brett Cecil.
Speedy Angels rookie Peter Bourjos, who has started in center field in all nine games since his promotion from Triple-A Salt Lake on Aug. 3, made a leaping attempt on Adam Lind's drive to the wall in right-center in the second inning and the ball caromed off his glove for a triple. Edwin Encarnacion drove in Lind with a single.
Bourjos robbed Aaron Hill of a bloop single in left-center in the third, but it went in the books as a sacrifice fly. Fred Lewis added an RBI double in the seventh.
NOTES: Rzepczynski, who had hit only two batters during his first 75 innings in the big leagues, plunked Bourjos and Abreu with consecutive pitches in the third. ... Bourjos robbed Jose Bautista of an RBI double in the ninth with a diving catch after running full-speed toward the warning track. ... This is the first time this season that the Angels will face three left-handed starters in a three-game series. The others are Cecil and Ricky Romero. ... Angels manager Mike Scioscia met with struggling rookie INF Brandon Wood before batting practice and told him it would be in his and the club's best interests that he play winter ball.
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