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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.(AP)
Roy Halladay
got the run support he needed to earn his first win of the season against Tampa Bay.
Halladay gave up two runs over eight innings for his 13th win and the
Toronto Blue Jays
beat the Rays 5-2 on Friday night.
''You're always determined to beat teams, but I think you always are conscious of controlling what you can control,'' Halladay
said. ''They pitched well against us early on and it has made it tough.''
Halladay (13-5) was 0-2 in three previous starts against Tampa Bay this season. The right-hander allowed eight hits and struck
out six in pitching at least eight innings for the fifth time in his last six starts.
''My goals are to keep things simple and keep your approach simple as you pitch, and I think that allows you to get deep in
the game,'' Halladay said.
The Rays still have won six of the last nine games when Halladay started against them. Halladay is 12-9 overall in 32 games,
including 29 starts, overall against Tampa Bay.
The
Blue Jays
got homers from
Lyle Overbay
and
Adam Lind
.
Jason Frasor
pitched the ninth to record his sixth save.
Carl Crawford
had four hits, including two doubles, for the Rays, who have lost five consecutive games.
James Shields
(7-9) gave up five runs and eight hits in eight innings.
''This is when we have to stick together,'' Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. ''And stay with it.''
Overbay put the
Blue Jays
up 2-0 in the first with a two-run homer. In nine games since being moved into the fourth spot of the lineup, Overbay has
three homers and seven RBIs.
Toronto went ahead 4-0 in the second on an RBI double by
Joe Inglett
and
Marco Scutaro
's sacrifice fly. Lind hit a third-inning solo shot that made it 5-0.
''I think the first three innings was actually garbage from my point,'' Shields said. ''I feel like I let the team down early,
especially against a guy like Halladay.''
Crawford doubled and later scored on
Evan Longoria
's sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Gregg Zaun
hit a solo homer during the eighth.
Tampa Bay had two runners on in both the third and fourth, but failed to score. Halladay got a double-play grounder from
Jason Bartlett
to end the third, and retired three in a row - including strikeouts by
Carlos Pena
and
Pat Burrell
- with runners on first and third in the fourth.
''When he has those kind of situations, I don't think he worries so much about it,'' Toronto manager
Cito Gaston
said. ''This guy is certainly a Hall of Fame type pitcher and that's what Hall of Fame pitchers do. They step up when they
need to and get some outs for you.''
Vernon Wells
singled in the third to tie
Lloyd Moseby
(1,319) for third on the
Blue Jays
' all-time hit list. After that hit, Shields retired his next 16 batters before Overbay had a two-out single in the eighth.
''We were down 5-0, so I didn't want it to be 9-0,'' Shields said. ''I wanted to give my team at least a chance. I did that
and I'm happy about that, but we lost the game and I'm not too happy about that.''
NOTES: Burrell left after striking out in the fourth with neck stiffness. ... Tampa Bay held a players only meeting before
batting practice. The Rays were coming off a 1-5 road trip. ... Toronto recalled RHP
Casey Janssen
from Triple-A Las Vegas. He will work out of the bullpen. ... Rays 2B
Akinori Iwamura
(left knee surgery) started a minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Durham. ...
Blue Jays
DH
Randy Ruiz
, who had his contract purchased Tuesday from Las Vegas, is working out in the outfield and will get some defensive playing
time. ... The Rays optioned RHP
Jeff Bennett
to Triple-A Durham after the game.
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