Print

Mail

wiki links

Halladay on top as Blue Jays outshine the Devils

Roy Halladay became the first 20-game winner in the Major League this season, pitching a five-hitter which led the Toronto Blue Jays over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 3-1 on Thursday.

Halladay (20-6) has seven complete games this year, including his past three starts. He beat the New York Yankees 8-1 on Sept. 1, then had a 10-inning, 1-0 shutout five days later over Detroit.

"He's amazing," Blue Jays manager Carlos Tosca said. "If there's a better pitcher out there right now, we haven't seen him. He's the whole package."

The 26-year-old right hander's career-high streak of 23 scoreless innings ended when Tampa Bay scored an unearned run in the sixth.

Halladay struck out three, walked two and needed only 93 pitches to win. He is Toronto's first 20-game winner since David Wells went 20-8 in 2000.

"He's as good a pitcher as there is in the league. There's no question about it," Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella said.

Greg Myers homered for the Blue Jays.

Twins 5, White Sox 2

In Chicago, Brad Radke pitched a complete game to win his most important start of the season and Minnesota beat Esteban Loaiza and Chicago to move into a tie for the AL Central lead.

Shannon Stewart and Denny Hocking each drove in two runs as the Twins salvaged a split of the key four-game series. The teams meet for a three-game set next week at the Metrodome.

Radke (12-10) gave up nine hits, walked none and struck out five in his third complete game this season. It was his fourth straight victory.

Indians 6, Royals 5

In Kansas City, Missouri, Alex Escobar had his second straight three-hit game, driving in the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning single as Cleveland beat Kansas City.

The Royals stayed 3 games back of first place in the AL Central.

Danys Baez (2-8) earned the win with a scoreless inning. Jason Grimsley (2-6) took the loss in a game delayed twice by rain.

Athletics 14, Angels 4

In Oakland, California, Eric Chavez hit two of Oakland's six homers and the Athletics beat Anaheim for their third straight victory.

Eric Byrnes and pinch-hitter Billy McMillon hit three-run homers, and Ramon Hernandez and Mark Ellis also homered as the A's wrapped up their next-to-last homestand of the regular season with an impressive power display in their 11th victory in 12 games at the Coliseum.

Miguel Tejada and Jose Guillen also had RBI singles for Oakland, which won the final three games of its series with the Angels to maintain its lead atop the AL West.

Yankees 5, Tigers 2

In New York, Roger Clemens got his 307th victory, and Jorge Posada hit a go-ahead, two-run single and made a tag at home plate to lead New York over Detroit.

Nick Johnson and Bernie Williams added solo homers for the Yankees, who have won five straight games to boost their AL East lead to four games.

Detroit (37-108), which has dropped six straight, has lost the most games in the major leagues since the 1998 Florida Marlins went 54-108.

Detroit needs six wins in its final 17 games to avoid matching the post-1900 record of 120 losses in a season set by the 1962 New York Mets.

Mariners 8, Rangers 2

In Seattle, Gil Meche pitched eight steady innings for his 15th win and Randy Winn had three hits as Seattle beat Texas.

The Mariners stayed 2 1/2 games behind first-place Oakland in the AL West and moved within 1 1/2 games of Boston for the wild card.

Brewers 5, Astros 3

Ben Sheets once again beat Houston as the Milwaukee Brewers stopped a six-game losing streak on Thursday, beating the National League Central-leading Astros 5-3.

"We didn't want to make it seven," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "Benny came up huge."

The Astros stayed one game ahead of Chicago. St. Louis lost to Colorado 9-4 and remained 2 1/2 games behind Houston.

Houston had won three successive games and six of seven. The Astros finished 7-3 on their 11-day road trip.

"We just have to keep winning series," Houston star Jeff Bagwell said. "If that's not good enough, it wasn't meant to be. But this was a very good road trip."

Sheets (11-12) matched his career high for wins and defeated the Astros for the sixth straight time.

Sheets had lost straight overall, but stopped that skid by allowing three runs and eight hits in eight innings.

Expos 3, Cubs 2

In San Juan, Puerto Rico, Japanese pitcher Tomo Ohka took a two-hit shutout into the ninth inning, and Orlando Cabrera hit two doubles and a triple as Montreal held off Chicago.

The Cubs' two-run rally in the ninth fell short. They stayed one game behind NL Central leader Houston.

The Expos won the series against Chicago 2-1 and finished their 22 "home" games in Hiram Bithorn Stadium with a 13-9 record.

Ohka (9-12) outpitched Mark Prior (15-6), and the Expos' bullpen barely held on.

Rockies 9, Cardinals 4

In St. Louis, Sterling Hitchcock struggled for the first time since joining St. Louis, surrendering four solo home runs in 3 1-3 innings in a loss to Colorado.

Miguel Cairo hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals, who stayed 2 1/2 games behind Houston in the NL Central. St. Louis was due to start a three-game series at Houston yesterday.

The Rockies are an NL-worst 17-33 since the All-Star break and have won only two of their last 11 games.

Reds 3, Pirates 2

In Cincinnati, D'Angelo Jimenez hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to give Cincinnati a win over Pittsburgh.

Jimenez, acquired by the Reds from the Chicago White Sox in July, followed bunt singles by Ray Olmedo and Tim Hummel with his sixth homer for Cincinnati and 13th this season.

Phillies 8, Braves 3

In Atlanta, Bobby Abreu had three hits and Chase Utley homered -- all in the first three innings -- as Philadelphia denied Greg Maddux his 15th win with a victory over Atlanta.

The Phillies pulled within a half-game of idle Florida in the NL wild-card race. Marlon Byrd finished 3-for-5, and Pat Burrell had two hits and two RBIs.

Brett Myers (14-7) went seven innings, allowing a two-run homer to pinch-hitter Matt Franco in the fifth. Myers won his third straight decision.

Diamondbacks 2, Dodgers 0

In Phoenix, Chris Capuano allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings while starting in place of Curt Schilling as Arizona beat Los Angeles.

The 25-year-old left-hander struck out four, walked none and hit a batter in his fourth major league start. Capuano (2-3) was on the mound because Schilling has a sore neck.

Jose Valverde allowed one hit in the eighth, and Matt Mantei pitched a perfect ninth for his 23rd save as Los Angeles was held to just four hits.

Padres 5, Giants 4, 10 innings

In San Diego, Keith Lockhart's pinch-hit, two-run single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning led San Diego over San Francisco.

Lockhart's hit off Tim Worrell helped the Padres avoid a three-game sweep against the NL West-leading Giants.
This story has been viewed 1368 times.