Halladay overpowers Seattle in 2-0 shutout

Halladay overpowers Seattle in 2-0 shutout

Seattle Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki jumps away from an inside pitch from Toronto Blue Jays' Roy Halladay as he tires to bunt during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Seattle, Monday, June 30, 2008.

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Story Published: Jun 30, 2008 at 9:50 PM PDT

Story Updated: Nov 20, 2008 at 10:29 PM PDT

By Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) - Roy Halladay pitched his 10th career shutout, dominating the Seattle Mariners and limiting them to just four singles in Toronto's 2-0 victory on Monday night, the Blue Jays' third straight win.

Methodically controlling his pitch count, Halladay mowed through the Mariners lineup, allowing a pair of singles to Richie Sexson, and a hit each to Willie Bloomquist and Jeremy Reed. The only other Seattle batter to reach base against Toronto's ace was Ichiro Suzuki, who beat out a potential double play in the third and reached on an error in the sixth.

It was the seventh inning before a Seattle batter reached second base, and Halladay (9-6) won for the first time since June 8, throwing his sixth complete game of the season. Halladay's last complete-game shutout was June 22, 2007, an 8-0 three-hitter against the Mariners.

Unlike his last shutout, Halladay didn't get much offensive help, but the Blue Jays had just enough clutch hitting against Mariners starter R.A. Dickey.

David Eckstein ripped a two-out double into the left-field corner in the fifth. Marco Scutaro, who hit the ball hard in his first two at-bats, then followed with a sharp single to center, easily scoring the speedy Eckstein from second.

In the sixth, Vernon Wells led off with a single and Scott Rolen added a one-out single, his third hit of the night. Rolen is 7-for-14 in his last four games.

Lyle Overbay then walked on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. With a 1-1 count, Rod Barajas tapped a slow grounder to shortstop and Bloomquist's only play was to first, allowing Wells to score for a 2-0 cushion.

The Mariners had a three-game win streak snapped.

Seattle's best chance came in the seventh, but Halladay relied on the strikeout to escape the jam. Reed dumped a one-out single and brazenly advanced to third on Sexson's single into left, putting runners at the corners - the first time Seattle had two base runners in an inning.

Halladay then calmly struck out rookie Jeff Clement looking - for the third time - and induced a slow grounder from Kenji Johjima to end the inning.

Halladay, the major league leader in innings pitched, struck out six and threw 115 pitches, 84 for strikes. He did not walk a batter and only two putouts were made by the Blue Jays outfield.

Dickey (2-4) was coming off seven shutout innings in an 11-0 win against the New York Mets last week, and his dancing knuckleball matched Halladay for the first four innings, before finding trouble in the fifth. Dickey allowed nine hits and struck out three, but is 1-3 as a starter.

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