Newly-acquired Reyes leads rebounding Indians past Blue Jays

TORONTO (AP) -- Unsure of his place in St. Louis, Anthony Reyes was happy to find a new home. Even with the last-place Indians.

Reyes won his Cleveland debut, helping the Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 on Friday night.

Ben Francisco and Shin-soo Choo each had two RBIs and Cleveland rebounded from a 10-7 loss at Tampa Bay on Wednesday night. In that game, the Rays scored six runs in the ninth.

Acquired from St. Louis in a July 26 trade that sent right-hander Luis Perdomo to the Cardinals, the right-handed Reyes (1-0) allowed one run and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.

"He was using all of his pitches," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "I thought he mixed them well. He made some pitches when he needed to, he was efficient. I thought he pitched a very, very good ball game, especially with it being his first time out up here."

The 26-year-old Reyes went 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two starts at Triple-A Buffalo before being called up when right-hander Matt Ginter was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a sore forearm.

Reyes won Game 1 of the 2006 World Series for St. Louis but struggled the following season, finishing 2-14 with a 6.04 ERA. He moved to the bullpen this season, going 2-1 with a 4.91 ERA and one save in 10 relief appearances before being traded last month.

"I just felt like I didn't fit in, like anything I was doing wasn't fitting in," Reyes said of his time with the Cardinals. "It was hard trying to make people happy. It made for long years."

Reyes didn't mind that he wasn't dealt to a pennant contender as the trade deadline approached.

"I was excited just to start somewhere fresh," he said. "I think with St. Louis, that was probably it for me. I was excited for the opportunity and just excited to be coming here, having a chance to come up here and compete."

In a pre-game chat with his battery, Wedge urged catcher Kelly Shoppach to make Reyes feel at home.

"We just wanted to try and make it as easy and as comfortable for him as possible," Wedge said. "We really wanted to work off of him, let him pitch his ball game and go about his business the way he goes about his business."

The approach wasn't lost on Reyes.

"Everyone is all about communication here, from what I've gotten so far," Reyes said. "It's just nice."

Rafael Perez replaced Reyes with one on and one on in the seventh and got five outs but gave up an RBI single to Kevin Mench in the eighth.

Jensen Lewis got three outs for his first career save.

"I had a different heartbeat going in there tonight," Lewis said.

Cleveland opened the scoring with a two-out rally in the fourth. Francisco doubled home Shoppach and scored on Choo's double. Franklin Gutierrez singled home Choo, but was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double.

The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half when Rod Barajas reached on an infield single, moved to second on a base hit by Adam Lind and scored on Matt Stairs' single to right. Scott Rolen was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Reyes got John McDonald to end the inning on a fly to center.

Francisco and Choo each had RBI singles in the eighth as the Indians added a pair of insurance runs against reliever Shawn Camp.

Making his fifth career start, Toronto left-hander David Purcey (1-3) took the loss, giving up three runs and six hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out a career-high eight.

"We've got to try and be patient with him and hope he learns something every time he goes out there," Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said.

The Blue Jays, who completed a four-game sweep of Oakland on Thursday, lost for just the fifth time in 19 home games.

Cleveland shortstop Jhonny Peralta went 0-for-4, snapping a 10-game hitting streak.

Game notes
Reyes threw 88 pitches, including 62 strikes. ... Cleveland INF/DH Ryan Garko, who was pulled after failing to run out a grounder in Wednesday's loss at Tampa Bay, didn't start Friday. Wedge said he spoke with Garko before the game, but didn't elaborate on their conversation. "There's nothing to talk about," Wedge said. "It's self explanatory." ... Indians 2B Asdrubal Cabrera, who left Wednesday's game with a sprained left ankle, did not play. Jamey Carroll started at second. ... Toronto 1B Lyle Overbay snapped an 0-for-15 skid with a single in the second. ... Blue Jays 3B Scott Rolen will skip Saturday's game to rest his sore right shoulder, Gaston said. ... Toronto OF Vernon Wells (left hamstring) went 0-for-4 as the DH for Triple-A Syracuse in the first game of a rehab assignment.