Blue Jays Lose; Lead Sliced to 1 1/2 Games

Mark Guthrie allowed five hits in 7 1/3 innings as Minnesota defeated Toronto 2-0 today, capping a series in which the Blue Jays faced three Twins rookies but lost a half game from their American League East lead.

Jeff Reardon pitched a hitless 1 2/3 innings for his 30th save, making him the first reliever with five straight 30-save seasons. Only two other relievers, Dan Quisenberry and Lee Smith, had four straight.

Toronto now is 1 1/2 games ahead of Baltimore after losing three in a row for the first time since June 30-July 2 at home against Boston.

Guthrie, 2-1, followed impressive performances by David West and Kevin Tapani. The three allowed the Blue Jays 17 hits and three runs among them as Toronto’s lead shrank even though Baltimore lost two straight to the Chicago White Sox.

Guthrie, a 23-year-old left-hander who began the season in Class AA, walked two and struck out four.

He ran into trouble in the eighth, when Glenallen Hill led off with a single and was forced at second by Manny Lee. After Lloyd Moseby singled, Reardon came in and got Mookie Wilson to ground into a double play.

Blue Jays starter Mike Flanagan, 8-10, yielded seven hits and stranded eight baserunners in six innings. He couldn’t escape unscathed in the third, when the Twins scored their first run.

Dan Gladden led off with a single, advanced on Kirby Puckett’s grounder and scored on Brian Harper’s single to center. It was Harper’s 53nd RBI of the year, just 17 fewer than he had in parts of nine previous major-league seasons.

In the eighth, the Twins got another run on Greg Gagne’s RBI double.