Major League Baseball

Blue Jays 7, White Sox 3

Published Apr. 16, 2010 4:37 a.m. ET

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Blue Jays left-hander Dana Eveland only needed a handful of breaking balls to beat the Baltimore Orioles last week. He went back to his regular arsenal of offspeed pitches against the Chicago White Sox, and the results were equally effective.

Eveland pitched six innings, Travis Snider homered and Toronto beat Chicago 7-3 Thursday night.

``I'm pleased with the way it's going so far,'' said Eveland, who joined Toronto in an offseason trade with Oakland. ``I don't think I've ever won my first two starts in a season so that's nice. Hopefully I can just keep rolling with it.''

Alex Gonzalez matched a career high with four hits and had three RBIs as the Blue Jays improved to 7-3.

One night after a stadium-low crowd of 10,610 watched an 11-1 loss, attendance rose slightly to 10,744 for the series finale.

Eveland (2-0), who pitched 7 1-3 scoreless innings against the Orioles on April 10, followed that with a solid outing against the White Sox, allowing two runs and three hits in six-plus innings. He walked three and struck out four.

The lefty threw a mix of fastballs and change-ups in Baltimore, but knew he'd have to mix things up a little more against the White Sox.

``These guys can hit the fastball pretty well so I knew I was going to have to spin some balls up there,'' Eveland said. ``I couldn't be a two-pitch guy against these guys, they're a little more veteran team, not quite as aggressive. I knew I was going to be able to take advantage of throwing some early soft stuff in there. I figured I'd throw some first-pitch curveballs, first-pitch change-ups and whatnot. This team, they can swing the bats, so I had to use a little bit of everything today.''

Eveland didn't allow a run until White Sox rookie catcher Donny Lucy hit a two-out solo homer to left in the fifth, the first of his career.

Eveland ``works in and out and can throw any pitch at any time,'' Lucy said. ``That makes him effective.''

The second-deck shot snapped Eveland's season-opening streak of 11 1-3 scoreless innings, the longest by a Blue Jays starter to begin his Toronto career. Mike Flanagan pitched 10 2-3 scoreless innings after joining the Blue Jays in a trade with Baltimore in 1987.

``I didn't see too much because I put some balls in play early,'' White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko said. ``I didn't really make him work too much. He didn't waste any of his good stuff on me.''

The White Sox, who came in having lost 10 straight in Toronto, felt good to be leaving with a split.

``I've been up here a lot for a four-game series where we came out of here with nothing so we'll take it,'' Konerko said.

Shawn Camp replaced Eveland after a leadoff walk in the seventh and struck out Alex Rios but gave up a two-run homer to Alexei Ramirez, his first.

Casey Janssen worked the eighth and Jason Frasor, who lost the closer's job to Kevin Gregg on Wednesday, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.

Snider opened the scoring with a solo drive to right in the second, his first, off Freddy Garcia.

Toronto added three more in the third on back-to-back doubles by Gonzalez and Adam Lind and a sacrifice fly by John Buck.

Garcia (0-2) allowed seven runs and eight hits in three-plus innings, walked three and struck out three. He left one batter after Mike McCoy's RBI double in the fourth.

``Down in the bullpen he looked fine but as we got more into the game it became apparent that we were going to have to try and get through with more off-speed stuff,'' Lucy said of Garcia. ``He battled out there but obviously didn't have his stuff.''

Gonzalez greeted left-hander Randy Williams with a two-run double.

After nine starts in right field, Jose Bautista made his first appearance of the year at third base in place of Edwin Encarnacion, who sat out with a sore right arm. Manager Cito Gaston said Encarnacion was expected to miss ``a couple of days.'' Encarnacion missed most of spring training recovering from a sore left wrist, the result of surgery last October.

Toronto first baseman Lyle Overbay went 0 for 5 with four strikeouts, dropping his average to .077.

NOTES: The roof was open when the game began, the earliest in the year it's ever been open for a first pitch, but began closing in the third. ... Toronto acquired OF Fred Lewis from San Francisco for a player to be named or cash, optioned OF Jeremy Reed to Triple-A Las Vegas and moved RHP Dustin McGowan from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL. ... White Sox relievers have thrown 17 1-3 scoreless innings over the past six games. ... Former Blue Jays 3B Kelly Gruber attended the game, as did Toronto Raptors players Jarrett Jack and Sonny Weems.