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Baseball roundup: Thursday's action on the diamonds |
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Written by THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Thursday, 24 July 2008 |
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jason Frasor (54) and catcher Gregg Zaun celebrate their 7-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Rob Carr)
From Roy Halladay to Gregg Zaun, the Toronto Blue Jays got contributions throughout the roster and reached the elusive .500 plateau with a pair of wins over lowly Baltimore.
Halladay scattered seven hits over seven innings Thursday in a 7-1 win over the Orioles after the Toronto bullpen nailed down a 5-1 victory in a game suspended one night earlier.
Adam Lind and Marco Scutaro each had three hits and scored twice for the Blue Jays, who won three of four from Baltimore after losing their previous seven series on the road. Toronto went 4-3 on a swing that began in Tampa Bay and reached .500 (51-51) for the first time since June 14.
"Something we've been trying to do since I got here was get to .500 and we have managed to do it," said Toronto manager Cito Gaston, now 16-12 since taking over for the fired John Gibbons on June 21. "Things didn't start out too good on this road trip but it turned out pretty good."
Halladay (12-7) allowed one run, struck out six and walked one. The right-hander took over the major league lead in innings pitched (159 1-3) and lowered his ERA to 2.82.
"He's probably the best in the league," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "He makes pitches when he has to and he's got command of both sides of the plate. He's exceptional."
Halladay improved to 18-4 lifetime against the Orioles, who fell to a season-worst five games under .500 (48-53).
Seven Blue Jays had hits, five players scored and the bullpen was perfect after Halladay departed.
"Everybody contributed. Doc did a great job and guys got hits with runners in scoring position and we played great defence," Gaston said. "That's what happens when you play as a team."
Even Zaun snapped an 0-for-19 skid with a two-run single.
"I don't know how long it's been since I've had a hit," the catcher said. "It was nice to finally get one to drop out there."
In the only other American League game, Kansas City beat Tampa Bay 4-2.
In the National League, it was: New York Mets 3 Philadelphia 1; San Francisco 1 Washington 0; Pittsburgh 9 San Diego 1; Chicago Cubs 6 Florida 3 and Milwaukee 4 St. Louis 3.
At Baltimore, the suspended game was halted by rain in the sixth inning Wednesday night after A.J. Burnett (11-9) allowed one run in five innings. Jesse Carlson started the sixth and got four straight outs, Shawn Camp retired the only two batters he faced to end the seventh and Scott Downs finished with two innings of two-hit ball.
"Let's thank the bullpen," Burnett said. "They came out and finished out what I started from the get-go."
After watching his team score one run in 13 innings against Halladay and five relievers, Trembley summed up the lost afternoon in one succinct sentence: "I would say in the first game that their bullpen was exceptional, and then in the second game Halladay was outstanding."
The regularly scheduled game also featured another poor outing by Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera (6-6), lifted in the sixth inning after giving up a season-high seven earned runs and 11 hits. Cabrera is 1-5 in 12 starts since May 20.
"It looked like everything I can throw out there they can hit it like they know it's coming. It's tough," the right-hander said. "It's not mechanics. I think it's the location or maybe my pitch selection."
Bad pitches high in the strike zone didn't help.
"It looked like he just didn't have it today," Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz said. "To me it looked like he was under some pitches, which means he was bringing the ball up. That's tough to do, especially with a real aggressive club."
After a wild pitch by Cabrera and an RBI single by Lyle Overbay made it 2-0 in the third, Brad Wilkerson hit a run-scoring single in the fourth. Overbay added a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and a two-run single by Zaun chased Cabrera during a three-run sixth.
Baltimore got its lone run in the bottom half on a sacrifice fly by Luke Scott, but the Orioles went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. If his pitch count didn't reach 119, Halladay probably would have coasted to his eighth complete game.
"Location-wise, I wasn't as good getting ahead of the count and I cost myself a couple of pitches, but Zaun did a good job," Halladay said. "He called a good game and we made some good pitches when we had to."
Royals 4 Rays 2
At Kansas City, Gil Meche pitched seven scoreless innings after a shaky start and John Buck drove in two runs, helping Kansas City hold off Tampa Bay to extend the AL East leaders' road losing streak to seven games.
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Mets 3 Phillies 1
At New York, Carlos Delgado hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the eighth inning to help New York to a victory over Philadelphia that gave the Mets sole possession of first place in the NL East.
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Giants 1 Nationals 0
At San Francisco, Matt Cain pitched a four-hitter and Dave Roberts singled home a run in the eighth for the Giants, who earned their first three-game home sweep of the season.
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Pirates 9 Padres 1
At Pittsburgh, Yoslan Herrera pitched six shutout innings for his first major league win, and the Pirates got back-to-back homers from Jason Bay of Trail, B.C., and Xavier Nady.
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Cubs 6 Marlins 3
At Chicago, Carlos Zambrano pitched seven solid innings and the Cubs snapped a 10-game losing streak to Florida.
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Brewers 4 Cardinals 3
At St. Louis, Ryan Braun had four hits for a second straight game, including a two-run homer in the ninth, and Milwaukee beat the Cardinals for its eighth straight victory.
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