TORONTO -- J.A. Happ and two relievers combined on a four-hit shutout and Adam Lind drove in three runs as the Toronto Blue Jays kicked off a four-game series Thursday night with a 7-0 win over the Chicago White Sox.
Jose Reyes scored twice and had four of Toronto's 12 hits as the first-place Blue Jays (45-36) moved two games ahead of the idle Baltimore Orioles in the American League East.
Happ (7-4), who walked a pair, had a season-high eight strikeouts and tied a season high by working 7 2/3 innings. Dustin McGowan and Chad Jenkins completed the shutout.
Chicago (36-44) has lost seven of its last eight games and dropped 10 of 11 on the road.
The Blue Jays gave Happ an early lead after Reyes and Cabrera reached on back-to-back infield singles in the first inning off Scott Carroll (2-4). Lind drove a ball into the right-field corner that easily scored Reyes from second base.
The throw from former Blue Jays outfielder Moises Sierra was between home plate and third base, allowing Cabrera to score on the error.
Reyes tripled in the second inning to bring home Juan Francisco, who reached on a walk. Reyes drove the ball off the top of the wall in right-centre field and it bounced high in the air and back onto the field.
The play was reviewed to see if it should have been a home run but the call was upheld.
Happ retired the first seven White Sox players in order before giving up a single to Sierra and a walk to Adrian Nieto. The Toronto southpaw responded by getting Leury Garcia to ground into a double play.
Happ gave up a leadoff double to Gordon Beckham in the fourth but Chicago couldn't get him past second base. Jose Abreu grounded out, Dayan Viciedo popped up and Alexei Ramirez struck out.
The Blue Jays loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom half of the inning after singles by Anthony Gose and Reyes were followed by a Cabrera walk. Lind hit a seeing-eye single up the middle that allowed the speedy duo of Gose and Reyes to score.
Conor Gillaspie led off the fifth with a routine grounder to Munenori Kawasaki but the Toronto second baseman threw wide to first. Gillaspie took second base on the play and moved to third on a Paul Konerko sacrifice fly, but was left stranded when Nieto hit a comebacker.
Dioner Navarro put a charge into the crowd of 23,248 in the Toronto half of the frame when he hit a drive to the warning track in left-centre field. Viciedo flubbed the catch attempt and Garcia's throw to second base was wide.
Navarro ran to third when the ball rolled into foul territory and actually got the wave home -- a stunning decision by third-base coach Luis Rivera given that the Toronto catcher is probably the slowest player on the team. Abreu threw the ball home in plenty of time for Nieto to apply the tag.
The Blue Jays padded their lead in the seventh when Cabrera walked and then scored on Edwin Encarnacion's double.
Sierra doubled to lead off the eighth and moved to third on a Garcia groundout. Happ walked Beckham with two out and McGowan came on to get Abreu on a flyout.
Jenkins retired all three batters he faced in the ninth inning.
Notes: White Sox centre-fielder Adam Eaton left the game in the first inning due to cramping in his left leg. He was replaced by Garcia. ... Steve Tolleson replaced Francisco at third base in the seventh inning. Tolleson had been bothered by blurry vision of late but the problem was corrected after a visit to the eye doctor earlier in the day. ... Tolleson was called out on a close play at first base in the eighth inning. After a long review of nearly 3 1/2 minutes, the call stood. ... Abreu singled in the sixth inning to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. ... The game took exactly three hours to play. ... Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista continues to make progress in his recovery from a mild hamstring strain. There's a chance he could return to the lineup on the weekend. ... Toronto has held sole possession of first place for 35 straight days. ... Before the game, the White Sox designated former Blue Jays left-hander Scott Downs for assignment and recalled southpaw Eric Surkamp from triple-A Charlotte. ... Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (6-6, 4.04 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday night against Chicago's John Danks (6-6, 4.34). ... The Blue Jays get an off-day Monday before closing out their nine-game homestand with a two-game mini-series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
