TORONTO -- Henderson Alvarez dispelled any concerns about his elbow and the Toronto offence gave him plenty of early run support in an 11-2 rout of the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday. Yunel Escobar hit a two-run homer off Garrett Richards (2-1) in Torontos seven-run second inning and Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., added some insurance with a three-run shot in the eighth. Alvarez (5-6) was being closely monitored after leaving last Mondays game in the sixth inning with stiffness in his right elbow. He pitched seven strong innings to win his second game in a row after going winless in his previous seven starts. "He was able to get loose with no problems after a couple of long innings," Blue Jays manager John Farrell said. "A very encouraging day in a number ways for Henderson." An MRI on Tuesday showed only mild inflammation, which was a relief to the Blue Jays considering they recently lost three starting pitchers to injury. "In light of five days ago, the fact that he was able to go out and pitch extremely efficient, a lot of early outs, his pitch count well in check, he did an outstanding job and really what we needed," Farrell said. Alvarez held the Angels to seven hits and one run on 80 pitches. "Its been a while since a starter has worked deep in the game to give some of our relievers some down time," Farrell said. "And the fact that we built a pretty good cushion early in the game may have reduced some of the stress from some of the pitches Henderson delivered today." Alvarez had three strikeouts and didnt walk a batter. "I worked really hard with the sinker," Alvarez said through translator Luis Rivera. "I was keeping the sinker down. I was using the change-up a lot and didnt throw one slider today. So it was sinker, change-up." Alvarez pitched from the third-base side of the rubber for the second start in a row and it has helped him regain the heavy action on his sinker. "I think the move to the third-base side has had a lot of effect," Farrell said. Richards was charged with 10 runs in 4 1/3 innings but only five were earned as the Angels blundered their way through Torontos big frame. He allowed nine hits and walked four. The Blue Jays have been more consistent in recording solid at-bats, fouling off good pitches and working the count. "I think its not worrying about the result," Lawrie said. "I think its more or less worrying about hitting the ball hard, hitting it on the screws and not worrying about where it goes. Obviously youve got to get yourself into good counts to be able to do that." Farrell has been impressed with the offensive effort over most of the last month. "Its been like that for a pretty good stretch here," Farrell said. "Its not just been this series, it goes back two or three weeks." The Blue Jays (40-38) took the lead in the first inning when Lawrie scored from third on Jose Bautistas double-play grounder. Lawrie opened the inning by grounding a double past first base. He slid safely into third on a Colby Rasmus grounder to shortstop Andrew Romine, whose throw to third was too late to nab Lawrie. Johnson opened the second with a double and Escobar hit his fifth homer of the season. The inning continued when J.P. Arencibia singled, took second on a passed ball and scored when centre-fielder Peter Bourjos dropped Lawries fly ball. "Thats probably one of the most difficult times Ive had 1/8seeing 3/8 balls, especially with balls that didnt get above the stadium and into the sky," Bourjos said. "If the ball doesnt get up, its tough to see. If Im able to make that play (the inning) never happens. That inning snowballed after that play and it didnt get better." Rasmus doubled to score Lawrie and Bautista singled Rasmus home. Edwin Encarnacion singled to left and Mike Trouts throwing error allowed Bautista to score and Encarnacion to go to third. Johnson tripled to complete the scoring as Toronto equalled its biggest inning of the season, first done April 15 against Baltimore. It was the largest single-inning outburst against the Angels (43-35) this season. "We caught a couple of breaks in that second inning that helped contribute to that seven runs," Farrell said. "You give a team five or six outs and theyre going to score seven runs in an inning," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Were going to turn the page. We just got beat up today and weve got to get better tomorrow." The Angels scored in the third on a single by Bobby Wilson and a double by Maicer Izturis. Richards walked Adam Lind and Arencibia in the fifth before being replaced by David Carpenter, who was greeted by Lawries eighth homer of the season. Former Angels pitcher David Pauley pitched the ninth for Toronto and gave up three singles with Romines hit driving in a run. Notes: Attendance at Rogers Centre was 29,287.... Rasmus made a diving catch before sliding onto the warning track in left centre to rob Albert Pujols of a hit in the eighth inning ... Lawrie had his stretch of reaching base safely ended at 17 consecutive games on Friday when he was 0-for-5. He came back Saturday to go 3-for-4 before being replaced at third by Omar Vizquel. ... Left-hander Aaron Laffey (0-0, 1.80 earned-run average) will start the series finale for Toronto on Sunday against left-hander C.J. Wilson (9-4, 2.36 ERA). cheap nfl jerseys . Houston, which is 168-183 at Wrigley since debuting there 50 years ago in April 1962, will transfer to the American League for the 2013 as part of a major-league realignment. Right-hander Edgar Gonzalez will get the start for the Astros, his sixth of the season for Houston and the 47th of his career in his 113th big-league appearance. cheap jerseys . The left-hander takes the mound for the third installment of a four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Catch all the action on TSN2 beginning at 8pm et/5pm pt. Friday night, Johan Santana threw the first no-hitter in Mets history and yesterday afternoon R. http://www.cheapauthenticjer... . There wasnt much more for the former International Boxing Federation super-middleweight champion from Montreal to say about his bout against heavy-hitting Russian Denis Grachev on Saturday night at the Bell Centre. [url=http://www.cheapauthenticjerseysfromchina.com/]cheap jerseys from china . Two people familiar with the negotiations said Swisher has agreed to a $56 million, four-year contract with the Indians, who used the free agent outfielders deep Ohio connections to convince him to join the club. wholesale nfl jerseys . After taking a 1-0 lead into the 83rd minute of Saturdays 1-1 draw with Chivas USA at Dicks Sporting Goods Park, the Rapids watched Juan Pablo Angel net the equalizer for the visiting side to leave with a point. SAN DIEGO -- Chase Headley put a mighty swing on a fastball from Takashi Saito, watched for a moment as it sailed toward the right-field seats, raised his right arm in celebration and then started his home run trot. He knew it was gone, and it wasnt just any homer for Headley, the switch-hitting slugger whos having a breakout season for the San Diego Padres. Headley hit a grand slam to extend his career-bests to 27 homers and an NL-high 102 RBIs, and Carlos Quentin followed with a homer for San Diegos first back-to-back shots this season as the Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-2 Sunday. "It was neat," Headley said. "Theres not a lot of balls that I hit here that I know for sure are home runs when I hit them. Yeah, I hit that one pretty good." In previous seasons, Headley has been criticized for not putting up the kind of power numbers expected of a third baseman. Now, the switch-hitter seems to be making up for lost time with a more aggressive approach. Batting left-handed, Headley drove an 0-1 pitch from Saito several rows into the stands with two outs in the seventh to give the Padres a 7-1 lead. It was his second grand slam this season and third of his career. It is the Padres first 100-RBI season since Adrian Gonzalez had 101 in 2010 and the 18th in club history. "It was a great feeling," Headley said. "Obviously thats a number along the way that means quite a bit. To be able to share that with my teammates and to get over the hump with a grand slam, just a great feeling." John Baker drew a one-out walk and Chris Denorfia kept the inning alive when he reached on second baseman Aaron Hills two-out fielding error, which made all five runs that inning unearned. Logan Forsythe walked ahead of Headleys slam. Headley homered twice in Friday nights win against the Diamondbacks, once from each side of the plate, and drove in four runs. His 19 homers and 60 RBIs since the All-Star break lead the big leagues. Overall, his 15 games of three or more RBIs lead the majors. Headley had gone 0 for 3 until his slam. "Theyre trying to get me out, and thats the great thing about our lineup right now is they cant just sit there and pitch around me because we have other guys who are swinging the bat so well," Headley said. "Thats the only way you can have an accomplishment like that is having the rest of the guys doing such a great job around me." Headleys previous highs were 12 homers and 64 RBIs in 2009. Headleys 60 RBIs in the second half tie him with hitting coach Phil Plantier (1993) for second-most by a Padres player in the second half of a season. That trrails only the 81 RBIs that Ken Caminiti had during the second half of 1996, when he won the NL MVP.dddddddddddd Plantier knows how good it felt for Headley to round the bases. In 1993, Plantier homered in the seasons penultimate game -- his 34th -- to reach 100 RBIs on the nose. "Hes a grinder," Plantier said. "He doesnt give a pitch away; he doesnt give an at-bat away. He always gives himself a chance every at-bat of every game, which is hard to do. That feeling he had running around the bases, Im really happy for him because hes worked extremely hard to do what hes done to this point. The nice thing is, he has three weeks to keep going." Said manager Bud Black: "Hes been there for us all year. Hes been there especially for us the last 2 1/2 months. Good for him. Im so happy for him." The Padres took two of three and won for the eighth time in nine games against the Diamondbacks. The Padres have won 14 of 19 overall and 18 of 24 at home. "The two games we lost here, Headley hurt us," Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. Quentin followed Headleys slam with a shot into the stands in left, his 16th, to chase Saito. Chris Denorfia homered leading off the sixth, his seventh of the season. Arizona, the defending NL West champions, dropped 6 1/2 games behind St. Louis for the second NL wild-card spot, with three teams in between them. Rookie Andrew Werner (2-1), making his fourth career start, allowed one run and four hits in 6 1-3 innings, struck out six and walked three. The Padres jumped on Arizona rookie Patrick Corbin (5-7) for two runs in the second. Quentin hit a leadoff double, Jesus Guzman walked, Cameron Maybin doubled over leaping third baseman Chris Johnson and Andy Parrino hit a sacrifice fly. Arizonas Jason Kubel had an RBI grounder in the third. Corbin allowed three runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings, struck out three and walked two. NOTES: Diamondbacks rookie CF Adam Eaton doubled San Diegos Andy Parrino off first base. John Bakers fly ball looked like it would go over Eatons head, but he tracked it down, stopped, turned around and threw all the way to first. ... The Diamondbacks are off Monday before opening a two-game series at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night. The scheduled starters are Arizonas Ian Kennedy (12-11, 4.39) against L.A.s Joe Blanton (9-12, 4.92). The Padres continue their homestand by opening a three-game series Monday night against the St. Louis Cardinals. The scheduled matchup of lefties will have St. Louis Jaime Garcia (4-6, 4.16) starting against Eric Stults (5-2, 2.35). ' ' '