Drew Taylor went seven plus innings and Tony Lewis drove in two runs as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Hamilton Thunderbirds 5-1 at Christie Pits on Sunday afternoon.

The winning run was scored in the third inning when Lewis drove in centre-fielder Kern Watts with a single to right field.

Taylor allowed no runs on six hits while walking two and striking out three.

Rick Meinhold went 2 2-3 allowing one unearned run on no hits while striking out one.

Damon Topolie collected two of Toronto?s seven hits. Watts, Tony Lewis, Kyle Morton, Dan Gibbons and John Fernandez got the others. Topolie drove in the other run.

With the win the Leafs move to 5-3, good enough for second place in the Intercounty Baseball League, ? game behind the Brantford Red Sox.

Hamilton starter Ryan Vanspronsen went six innings charged with four runs, three earned on seven hits while striking out two.

Jordan Windisch went two innings allowing one unearned run on no hits while walking two.

Ryan Deer collected two of Hamilton?s six hits. Mitch Peragine, Jon Saporsantos, Drew Pettit and Tyler Windisch got the others.

With the loss the Thunderbirds move to 0-10 and bring up the rear in the nine-team league.

The Leafs broke out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning on four hits and an error.

Damon Topolie, John Fernandez and Kern Watts singled to load the bases. Raul Borjas grounded to third base, forcing Topolie at home. Tony Lewis singled scoring Fernandez and Watts. Lewis got caught off first but Hamilton catcher Tyler Windisch threw the ball into centre field and Borjas scored.

The Maple Leafs made it 4-0 in the home half of the fourth but had a chance to blow out the Thunderbirds at this point.

Jeremy Walker reached on an error, went to third on a Kyle Morton double to centre and scored when Topolie singled to left field. Fernandez walked to load the bases but Watts grounded into a home to first double play to end the inning.

“I think we’ve been a little unlucky the last couple of games,” Toronto manager Tim Harkness said. “We’ve hit balls straight at guys … we’re very close to being a good ball club right now but what we need is a blow out to get everybody going at the same time.”

Taylor kept Hamilton off balance with a good mix of fastballs and curve balls. Through five innings Taylor retired 13 of 15 batters, allowing two singles.

“My best pitch was my two-seam fastball,” Taylor said. “I got a lot of first and second pitch ground outs, so that was probably my best pitch … for the most part I was on top of the ball so I have to be happy about that.”

The Leafs made it 5-0 in the seventh without a hit. With Jordan Windisch pitching, Watts walked and went to third on an error and scored on a wild pitch.

The first real threat for the Thunderbirds came in the eighth inning. With one out Steve Downing singled and Saporsantos walked.

“My biggest problem was in the eighth inning, walking that batter,” Taylor said. “I really can?t do that … and bringing runners into scoring position without forcing them to put the ball in play … that was my biggest mistake,” Taylor said.

Harkness came out and replaced Taylor with Meinhold. The reliever got Drew Pettit to pop out to first and Darnell Duckett flew out to centre to end the threat.

“He (Meinhold) came in and did the job, got out of it, so I am very appreciative for that,” Taylor said. “He’s a new player who just came in from the States and when a new guy comes in we invite them with open arms.”

Hamilton got its only run in the ninth when Kyle Morton dropped a fly ball in right field, allowing a hustling Deer to reach second. Deer went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a fly out to centre by Steve Paciuc.

“I have nothing bad to say about my team, how they play,” Hamilton manager Dennis Reynolds said. “They hustle on and off the field. They respect me and I respect them. They play hard and we will be okay in a couple of years.”