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TORONTO — At times this season, Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay must have felt as if he was stranded on a desert island instead of a mound of dirt, having no one else but himself to rely on to get the job done.
Working late into games time and time again with his normal fast-paced efficiency, Halladay often found himself starved of any offensive support and eventually leaving the game as the loser.
Last night, at the open-lidded Rogers Centre, the offensive floodgates finally burst open in support of Halladay.
The Blue Jays pounded out 21 hits en route to a 14-3 demolishing of the New York Yankees in front of a raucous crowd of 37,037, who enjoyed every moment of the Yankees' humiliation.
Toronto Blue Jays' Marco Scutaro is congratulated by teammate Matt Stairs and manager Cito Gaston after scoring during the third inning. (Frank Gunn/CP)
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- Boston Red Sox
- New York Yankees
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- Jose Bautista
- A.J. Burnett
- Scott Downs
- Roy Halladay
- Hideki Matsui
- Sidney Ponson
- Alex Rios
- Scott Rolen
- Marco Scutaro
- Matt Stairs
- Billy Traber
"It feels great to actually put some runs across the board [for Halladay]," said Joe Inglett, who did his part, going 4-for-5, including a double. "All he needs is one [run], pretty much. After that, he does what he does."
With the decisive win, the Jays, 66-61, won the three-game series 2-1 and moved to one game behind the third-placed Yankees, 67-60, in the American League wild-card race.
The Blue Jays are now seven behind the wild-card front-running Boston Red Sox, who pull into town today to begin a key three-game set.
For Halladay, last night was almost like a walk in the park as the Jays scored in each of the first five innings, including five runs in the third, to open up a 13-0 lead.
Halladay left after seven innings, his only major blemish being a three-run home run by Hideki Matsui that ruined his shutout bid. Halladay equalled his season best with nine strikeouts and improved his record to 15-9.
"Yeah, the offence was huge," said Halladay, whose run support average heading into the contest was a mere 3.8 runs a game. "And it was early, we added on. It's fun pitching in games like that, especially against good teams."
Marco Scutaro led the onslaught, collecting four hits, including a three-run home run in fifth inning, and four runs batted in.
Alex Rios had three hits and three RBIs, as did Matt Stairs, whose bases-loaded double in the fourth inning cleared the bases and helped take some of the sting out of a 4-for-23 skid over his nine previous games.
It is to Halladay's credit that, despite the lack of run support, his record is so solid — especially at the Rogers Centre, where he has been almost invincible.
Heading into last night, Halladay had a 23-7 record and 3.03 earned-run average, including 10 complete games, in his 40 previous starts at home.
And after a loss — the Jays were upended 5-1 by the Yankees on Wednesday — Halladay's been Mr. Rebound, compiling a record of 44-19 (3.23 ERA), since the 2003 season. If that's not money in the bank, nothing is.
Still, manager Cito Gaston, being the wily baseball veteran he is, said nothing can ever be taken for granted, even when Halladay is on the mound.
"Don't count them before they hatch," Gaston counselled before the game.
The way it unfolded, not only could have Gaston counted his chickens, but he could have dined out on a tasty pregame meal of wings.
The Blue Jays' batters swung aggressively and efficiently constructed a 13-0 lead after five innings. In the third inning, the Jays batted around, chasing New York starter Sidney Ponson, 7-4, from the game.
It was Rios's double into the right-field corner that opened the floodgates, scoring Toronto's first two runs of the third inning. John McDonald also accounted for two runs with a bases-loaded single.
