Errors are part of the game.
Just not Lyle Overbay's game.
Less than four hours after Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston was discussing how his Blue Jays led the American League in fielding percentage, Overbay skied a throw to second for a two-base error.
An intentional walk and an out later, Victor Martinez pulled an 0-2 pitch from closer Scott Downs for a two-run double as the Cleveland Indians rallied for a 2-1 win before 18,330 fans.
Ryan Garko had reached on an infield single to open the inning when Grady Sizemore bunted hard to first.
"When I saw Grady get the ball down, it rolled to first and I saw the first baseman going to throw to second, it didn't look too good for us," Indians winning pitcher Cliff Lee said.
Overbay fielded Sizemore's bunt attempt and tried for the force at second, but it was left fielder Jose Bautista -- not shortstop Marco Scutaro -- who took the throw on a bounce.
"I don't like making mistakes defensive-wise," Overbay said. "Hitting you are going to fail, it happens.
"It was the right play. Maybe if I didn't get a good grip, I don't throw it, but I had a good grip. I cost us the game."
Overbay had fielded 748 chances this season, with one error, a .999 fielding percentage, before his errant throw.
Pinch-runner Luis Valbuena reached third and Sizemore second. Then came the intentional walk and a ground ball to third baseman Scott Rolen, who had homered in the seventh for the skinny one-run lead.
"The throw gave us the opportunity we needed," said Lee, who after the Martinez double, worked a complete game allowing seven hits to increase his record to 6-9. Lee, the defending Cy Young award winner, impressed a cadre of scouts on hand as he threw 112 pitches allowing seven hits.
With 13 zeros on the board, Rolen acted the way cleanup hitters should in a scoreless game in the bottom of the seventh.
It was Rolen's first homer since July 1, his third since moving into the No. 4 spot and the Jays' eighth as a team. Vernon Wells (62 games), Adam Lind (four) and Kevin Millar (two) have also hit cleanup this season.
Rookie lefty Brett Cecil had pitched seven scoreless, retiring 10 of the final 12 hitters he faced and Jeremy Accardo worked a tidy eighth. So nice and tidy and then suddenly so messy.
While Roy Halladay threw 27 balls in his complete-game win over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday, Cecil threw his 27th ball of the game, walking Sizemore with one out in the fourth. That's a tough standard of comparison.
But after an uneasy start, Cecil had Halladay-like results.
Cecil allowed five hits, four walks and hitting a batter in his first 41/3 innings. He stranded nine in the first five innings.
LESSONS LEARNED
"Accardo came in after he pitched and I was riding the bike and he told me to remember how I get out of those jams," Cecil said. "It's a good lesson learned. I thought a couple of pitches could have gone either way.
"I have to learn how to trust your stuff and throw it with authority."
