Blue Jays turn back Indians, 8-6

Toronto scored five runs in the second, then held off the Tribe in the ninth.

TORONTO (AP) — Vernon Wells homered and drove in three runs, Roy Halladay remained unbeaten against Cleveland, and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Indians 8-6 Friday night.

Wells went 2-for-4 and was intentionally walked in the fifth. He’s batting .354 (17-for-48) with seven homers and 15 RBIs in 11 games as Toronto’s leadoff batter.

Halladay (10-3) allowed five runs and nine hits over 52⁄3 innings, walking one and striking out three. He is 5-0 with a 3.84 ERA in 10 career appearances against the Indians, including nine starts.

Scott Downs relieved Halladay in the sixth and pitched a scoreless inning before Casey Janssen took over and retired all four batters he faced. Jeremy Accardo worked the ninth for his 11th save in 13 opportunities.

Left fielder Reed Johnson, just activated from the disabled list, made a diving catch of Victor Martinez’s sacrifice fly in the ninth. Accardo then retired Travis Hafner with a runner on to end it.

Jays score five in second

The Blue Jays erased a 1-0 deficit with a five-run second against left-hander Cliff Lee (5-5).

Gregg Zaun singled, Curtis Thigpen reached on an error and Royce Clayton walked before John McDonald hit an RBI single. Wells followed with a two-run single, Johnson sacrificed and Alex Rios hit a two-run double down the left-field line.

Cleveland closed to 5-3 on a third-inning homer by Casey Blake and a fourth-inning sacrifice fly by Kelly Shoppach, but Wells made it 6-3 with a homer in the fourth.

The Indians pulled to 6-5 in the fifth thanks to an RBI grounder from Hafner and a run-scoring single by Jhonny Peralta.

Toronto got those runs back in the bottom half against reliever Fernando Cabrera. Zaun singled and scored on a pinch-hit triple by Matt Stairs. Clayton followed with an RBI double.

Lee lost for the first time in five starts. He gave up six runs — five earned — and six hits over four innings.

Blake finished with two hits and two RBIs.

Notes

Janssen lost his footing and cartwheeled off the mound while pitching to Ben Francisco in the eighth. A sheepish-looking Janssen recovered to strike out Francisco. ... Stairs tripled for the first time since April 13, 2005. ... The Blue Jays held a pregame ceremony to honor Frank Thomas, who became the 21st player in major league history to hit 500 home runs when he connected at Minnesota on June 28. ... It was Johnson’s first game since April 11.