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Preview: Indians Look For Second Straight Win As Blue Jays Roll Into Town

(Sports Network) - Ricky Romero will try to get the Toronto Blue Jays back on track this evening when they open a four-game set with the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field.

The Jays, who with 40 wins are one of the biggest surprises in the league, had a difficult time in Philadelphia over the weekend, dropping two of three including an 11-2 rout in Sunday's finale. Vernon Wells went 2-for-3 and upped his home run total to 19 with a two-run shot for Toronto, which committed four errors in its fifth loss in seven games.

Brett Cecil (7-5) surrendered seven runs -- five earned -- on 10 hits and a walk in 4 2/3 innings to get the loss.

"We didn't give [Cecil] any support in terms of defense," Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said. "We certainly lost as a team today."

Hoping for a little more run support tonight will be Romero, who hasn't allowed a run in either of his last two starts. Romero, though, didn't get a win on Wednesday against St. Louis despite scattering eight hits in eight scoreless innings of his team's 1-0 loss.

"It was a tough one, a pitchers' duel. I knew it was going to be a tough one. It was just a good game," said the hard-luck Romero, who is 6-3 on the season with a 2.85 eared run average.

Romero, 2-0 in two starts versus the Indians, has allowed two runs or less in four of his last five starts overall, but is just 2-1 in that time.

Cleveland, meanwhile, will counter with veteran right-hander Jake Westbrook, who is 4-4 with a 4.90 ERA. Westbrook did not get a decision in his last start on Wednesday in Philadelphia, as he allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings of his team's 7-6 loss.

Westbrook has faced the Blue Jays nine times (sevens tarts) and is 2-2 with a 5.05 ERA.

Cleveland snapped a seven-game losing streak on Sunday, as Shin-Soo Choo hit two home runs and Mitch Talbot was sharp through seven innings, helping the Indians to a 5-3 win over Cincinnati to conclude their three-game interleague set.

Talbot (8-6) surrendered just a lone run on three hits while striking out five and walking three for the Tribe, who won for just a second time in their last 13 games. Kerry Wood struck out the side in order in the ninth to earn his sixth save of the season.

Toronto swept a three-game set from the Indians back in early May and have won six of its last seven in Cleveland.

Photographs by spatulated, Triple Tri, and chrischappelear used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.