ANAHEIM -- Compliments have been hard to come by for Toronto's hitters. There has been criticism aplenty, but nary a kind word has graced the Blue Jays' ears recently when it comes to the performance of their offense.

It's hard to fault the pundits, considering Toronto's bats seem to often get held up at customs, especially when the club hits the road. On Thursday night, though, the Blue Jays came through in the few scoring chances they received, backing a solid effort by Jesse Litsch in a 5-4 victory over the Angels.

After Litsch kept the floodgates closed by escaping a critical bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning, the Blue Jays rallied for a trio of runs an inning later. All three runs came with two outs, and Toronto managed two hits in its only at-bats with runners in scoring position -- the dreaded scenario that has haunted the Jays all season.

"Toronto got three runs with two outs," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "That's pretty good situational hitting, and we paid the price for it."

The Blue Jays (64-63) will surely take any compliment they can get.

Runs have been hard to come by on the road this season for Toronto, and the production has been even worse with Litsch on the mound. Entering the opener of a four-game weekend set against the Angels, the Jays were averaging 4.3 runs per game away from home and just 3.5 over Litsch's 12 starts.

Toronto upped those averages with five runs against Los Angeles (74-53), marking the first time the Jays plated more than four in a road game since July 13. It also represented the most support Litsch (5-6) has received since July 25, when Toronto helped the rookie earn a win with 13 runs against the Twins.

So, when the Blue Jays slipped into an early 3-0 hole at Angel Stadium, it was easy to believe that might've been too much damage for the laboring lineup to overcome.

"You can't ever think like that," said Litsch, who was charged with two earned runs over 6 1/3 innings of work. "You have to think that they have your backs at all times. Obviously, what happened today, that's what you hope for all the time."

The Blue Jays countered with two runs in the fourth inning -- thanks to an RBI double by Vernon Wells and a run-scoring single by Frank Thomas. The Angels appeared poised to erase Toronto's effort in the bottom of the fourth, when Litsch walked Reggie Willits to load the bases with two outs.

Litsch had already surrendered a third-inning home run to Angels slugger Vladimir Guerrero, who moved into the on-deck circle as Willits jogged to first. The crisis was averted when Litsch struck out Orlando Cabrera to end the inning.

"That was a big, big strikeout," Toronto catcher Gregg Zaun said. "Willits was definitely not the guy we would want to walk in that situation with Cabrera and Guerrero coming up. That could've turned into something really ugly. Getting a strikeout right there gave us a boost."

Toronto answered with a two-out rally against Angels starter Ervin Santana in the fifth. Santana (5-12) retired Zaun and Ray Olmedo to open the inning, but then the Angels right-hander allowed a single to Toronto's Reed Johnson. Lyle Overbay followed with a double to put runners on second and third base for Matt Stairs.

Stairs then drilled an offering from Santana into the gap in right-center field, allowing both Johnson and Overbay to score. Shortly thereafter, the Angels' gift-wrapped the game's deciding run. Santana threw a wild pitch, and Stairs was able to jog home when catcher Ryan Budde retrieved the ball and relayed it wildly into left field.

Litsch had trouble locating his sinker against the Angels, but the young right-hander managed to find a way to keep LA's hitters off-balance. Over his past six starts, Litsch has posted a 2.37 ERA, giving up three earned runs or fewer in each of those outings.

"He struggled early with location," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "Then he found a nice little groove for a couple innings to get us through the middle innings and late into the game. He's still at that point where sometimes he's going to overthrow at times."

A seventh-inning throw by Zaun helped Litsch pick up his first win since July 30. Willits broke for second base with one out, and Toronto's catcher threw the runner out with Cabrera at the plate. Jays reliever Casey Janssen induced an inning-ending grounder off the bat of Cabrera to end the frame.

"That was at a big point in the ballgame," Zaun said. "I knew [Guerrero] was looming on deck and I didn't want to give him a chance to put them ahead. So, it turned out to be pretty big."

The importance of catching Willits stealing became even more prominent an inning later, when Guerrero launched a 1-0 pitch from Janssen into the right-field seats for his second solo home run of the game. That cut Toronto's lead to one run, which was enough for closer Jeremy Accardo to use for his 25th save of the season.

The Jays didn't exactly outslug the Angels, but they did just enough to earn the win and a few compliments for once.

"Run support is always good," Litsch said. "They came out swinging the bats well."