CINCINNATI (AP) — A hit batter, an RBI double, a two-run homer. In the span of three batters, Mike Leake and the Cincinnati Reds let one get away.

Adam Lind homered for the fourth straight game on Friday night, hitting a tiebreaking two-run shot in the seventh inning, and the Toronto Blue Jays held on for a 3-2 victory over the Reds that featured bothersome birds and a misplayed flyball.

Lind’s homer off Leake (6-3) marked the 11th time in Blue Jays history that a player homered in four straight. He’s gone on a tear since missing nearly a month on the disabled list with a sore back, one that’s still a little sore in the morning sometimes.

Since coming off the DL, he’s batting .413 with eight homers and 17 RBIs.

“I quit trying to feel my way out there,” he said. “I wasn’t swinging with a lot of authority out there.”

Jo-Jo Reyes (3-5) gave up a pair of solo homers, including Drew Stubbs’ inside-the-park dash off a misplayed fly. Frank Francisco gave up a single in the ninth before finishing for his seventh save in 10 chances.

The Jays weren’t the only birds on the field. Three pigeons roamed the infield together most of the game. At one point, Leake left the mound and tried to shoo them away, but they didn’t go far.

Toronto’s first visit since 2003 — the inaugural season at Great American Ball Park — became a spotlight for the Blue Jays’ hottest hitter.

Corey Patterson was hit by a pitch to start the seventh, and Jose Bautista’s double tied it 1-all. Lind hit the next pitch over the wall in center, his sixth homer in his last 10 games.

The last Blue Jay to homer in four straight was Edwin Encarnacion Sept. 30-Oct. 3.

“I’ve never been one of those guys who equate a quality start with a good outing,” Leake said. “I threw two bad pitches. Other than that, I thought I threw a good game.”

That three-batter span decided it.

“Hit batter, stolen base, double, home run — that was the ballgame,” manager Dusty Baker said. “If you went to the bathroom, you missed the whole ballgame. It happened very quickly.”

Otherwise, Leake got the Blue Jays to hit the ball into the ground and let one of the NL’s top defenses make the plays. The best: Gold Glove second baseman Brandon Phillips went behind second base to get J.P. Arencibia’s grounder and threw him out from the grass in shallow center field as he fell down.

Phillips also threw John McDonald out at the plate when he tried to score from third base on a grounder, keeping Toronto’s lead at 3-2.

Toronto’s defense was lacking in the sixth.

Stubbs hit a high flyball to the warning track. Bautista drifted over from right, waved his arm and called for it, and Patterson headed over from center to get the ball, too. Both pulled up at the last instant, letting the ball drop safely.

Stubbs slowed while he rounded first base, expecting the ball to be caught. He rounded the bases standing up after shortstop Yunel Escobar failed to come up with the relay throw cleanly.

“Both guys looked like they were camping (under it),” Stubbs said. “I’ve been part of outfields where there’s been some miscommunication. It fell and I was lucky enough that it bounced away.”

Scott Rolen also hit a solo homer, his first since April 7, off Reyes in the seventh. The left-hander gave up six hits and a pair of runs in 6 1-3 innings.

NOTES: Toronto is 2-2 in interleague play this season. Cincinnati fell to 0-4. … The Blue Jays started a 10-game, four-city trip that concludes with a makeup game in Detroit. Their game on May 17 was rained out. … Stubbs’ inside-the-park homer was the first by a Reds player at Great American. … Reds 1B Joey Votto, a Toronto native, will receive the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s top athlete in 2010 before Saturday’s game. … Stubbs also fanned three times. He leads the majors with 95 strikeouts.

Friday’s Game

Blue Jays 3, Reds 2

Toronto Cincinnati

ab r h bi ab r h bi

YEscor ss 4 0 0 0 Stubbs cf 4 1 1 1

CPttrsn cf-lf 3 1 0 0 BPhllps 2b 4 0 1 0

Bautist rf 4 1 2 1 Votto 1b 4 0 0 0

Lind 1b 4 1 1 2 Bruce rf 4 0 0 0

JRiver lf 4 0 0 0 Rolen 3b 4 1 1 1

Frncsc p 0 0 0 0 JGoms lf 3 0 2 0

Arencii c 4 0 0 0 Ondrsk p 0 0 0 0

A.Hill 2b 3 0 1 0 Masset p 0 0 0 0

J.Nix 3b 3 0 0 0 FLewis ph 1 0 1 0

Dotel p 0 0 0 0 Hanign c 4 0 1 0

Rzpczy p 0 0 0 0 Janish ss 3 0 0 0

RDavis cf 0 0 0 0 Leake p 2 0 0 0

JoReys p 2 0 1 0 Heisey ph-lf 1 0 0 0

JMcDnl 3b 1 0 1 0

Totals 32 3 6 3 Totals 34 2 7 2

Toronto 000 000 300 — 3

Cincinnati 000 001 100 — 2

LOB—Toronto 3, Cincinnati 5. 2B—Bautista (10), Jo.McDonald (4), B.Phillips (14). HR—Lind (15), Stubbs (10), Rolen (3). SB—C.Patterson (11). CS—Bautista (3).

IP H R ER BB SO

Toronto

Jo-.Reyes W,3-5 6 1-3 6 2 2 0 5

Dotel H,3 1 1-3 0 0 0 0 2

Rzepczynski H,8 1-3 0 0 0 0 0

F.Francisco S,7-10 1 1 0 0 0 2

Cincinnati

Leake L,6-3 7 5 3 3 0 3

Ondrusek 1 1 0 0 0 0

Masset 1 0 0 0 0 1

HBP—by Leake (C.Patterson). WP—Ondrusek. Umpires—Home, Jerry Meals; First, Dale Scott; Second, Dan Iassogna; Third, CB Bucknor. T—2:30. A—32,026 (42,319).