Halladay pitches 10-inning shutout

[CanadianChris 0]

From ESPN.com

 

Roy Halladay wanted to go 12 innings. Ten was enough.

 

Halladay pitched the first extra-inning shutout in the major leagues since Jack Morris in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series, leading the Toronto Blue Jays over the Detroit Tigers 1-0 Saturday.

 

"I really didn't want to come out," said Halladay, who threw 99 pitches, 70 for strikes. "I felt like I had at least two more."

 

Halladay (19-6) didn't allow a hit until pinch-hitter Kevin Witt doubled off the wall in left-center with two outs in the eighth. He finished with a three-hitter.

 

"Doc could have pitched until tomorrow," catcher Kevin Cash said.

 

Toronto manager Carlos Tosca said Halladay would have pitched the 11th, if necessary.

 

"He was still dominating," Tosca said.

 

The last extra-inning shutout had been Morris' seven-hit, 1-0 victory for Minnesota over Atlanta in the '91 Series. Dave Stewart had the previous one during the regular season, allowing five hits over 11 innings as Oakland beat Seattle 1-0 on Aug. 1, 1990.

 

Pinch-hitter Bobby Kielty drove in the winning run off Fernando Rodney (0-2) when he singled over center fielder Alex Sanchez in the 10th.

 

Halladay, who struck out five and walked one, is tied for the major league lead in wins with Esteban Loaiza of the Chicago White Sox, who won earlier Saturday.

 

He became the first Toronto pitcher to pitch 10 innings since John Cerutti on April 30, 1989. Halladay pitched his first shutout since June 7 last year against Colorado. He gave up consecutive singles to Warren Morris and Bobby Higginson in the ninth, but Dmitri Young hit into a double play.

 

"They swing early and if you can throw strikes you can get ground balls quick," Halladay said. "Some teams like Oakland and the Yankees really don't swing a lot, but these guys are out there swinging."

 

Five years ago, Halladay no-hit Detroit for 8 2-3 innings before Higginson pinch hit and homered. Halladay admitted he thought about that game.

 

"It was one of those random thoughts that go through your head," he said.

 

Toronto scored after Rodney walked Eric Hinske in the 10th and pinch-hitter Howie Clark sacrificed. Orlando Hudson struck out for the second out, and Rodney intentionally walked pinch-hitter Greg Myers. Kielty, batting for Reed Johnson, then singled.

 

Tigers starter Nate Cornejo allowed five hits in nine innings.

 

"I knew I was in for a challenge," Cornejo said. "Roy might win Cy Young. He's got nasty stuff."

 

Detroit (37-104) needs at least six wins in its final 21 games to avoid matching the post-1900 record of 120 losses in a season, set by the 1962 New York Mets.

 

Now, granted, this WAS against the Tigers, but this should put Halladay back in the thick of the Cy Young race. He is an absolute stud. I didn't even know there hadn't been an extra-inning shutout in 12 years...for some reason, I thought Pedro had done it at least once.

 

And any bets on Detroit being not being able to go 6-15, and getting the loss record?

[the max 0]

He's my Cy Young pick in the AL.

[CanadianChris 0]

Mine too, but I'm figuring Loaiza will get some love from the voters, since he's on a contending team and has as many wins.

 

Speaking of Loaiza, why the hell couldn't he pitch like this in Toronto?

[the pinjockey 0]

There is no excuse for letting a pitcher average less than 10 pitches per inning. I don't care if you are a hacking team, by the 6th inning everyone should be taking at least one pitch per at bat.

 

And I think Halladay will get the Cy Young. Since the AS break, Halladay seems to have been getting a little more publicity than Loaiza. That streak he had of three months without a loss will help him, people like streaks.

[Guest Choken One]

and Halleday might not be a one year flash like Loazia has appeared to be thus far...

 

The question is who gets the NL? Schmidt?

[the max 0]

Schmidt or Gagne

[Guest Choken One]

If Gagne why not Smoltz?

[the max 0]

You could throw Smoltz in there too, I just think Gagne is the better pitcher personally.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

I think Loazia and Halladay could share the award. You know Loazia will get love for the whupping he put on the Yankees.

 

and call me old fashioned but I can't give the Cy Young to a closer. Gagne may be the best pitcher in the league, but how the hell can you tell when he's only pitched 70 innings? I bet Halliday could pitch 70 in a row.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

If Gagne why not Smoltz?

Because Smoltz has blown save opportunities, as well as blown games in non-save opportunities and is now on the DL at a critical time of the year. Gagne has only looked human once and that was in the All-Star Game. Smoltz has shown signs of mortality plenty of times.

[bob_barron 0]

I'm a Braves fan but Gagne has had a better season then John Smoltz did. ESPN did an article comparing the two and Gagne came out on top

[the max 0]

Gagne has the better stuff too. It's just filthy.

 

Mid to upper 90's heat, with a 68 MPH change?! That's not fair.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Besides the awesome numbers Gagne has he's put in alot of tight games. Dodgers don't score alot of runs and alot of times he has to save 1 run games.

[starvenger 0]

I think Gagne's stated in interviews that he really shouldn't be considered for the Cy Young since relievers are more "everyday Joes" instead of the "every 4 days" usage of the starters.

 

I see his point, but I don't think that he'll be given much consideration for MVP, so they'll give him the Cy.

[treble 0]

I didn't even know there hadn't been an extra-inning shutout in 12 years...for some reason, I thought Pedro had done it at least once.

I think this is the Pedro game you were talking about.

[treble 0]

And Halladay won his 20th today against Tampa, 3-1, in his 3rd consecutive complete game. The run was unearned (thanks to an error by Eric Hinkse, who's been playing horrible defence lately), and the game barely took 2 hours to play.

[the max 0]

Halladay = Cy Young in AL. I had only seen him pitch a few times, but seeing him today was incredible. He is amazing.

[treble 0]

His ERA has dropped a lot in his last 3 games, plus, thanks to Loiza losing today and his ERA going up, he's probably got the inside track. Plus, he's got an easy schedule the rest of the way, with starts against Detroit, Tampa, and Cleveland, likely, while Loaiza's probably going to have to go up against Minnesota, KC, and the Yankees the rest of the way.

[Guest undisputedjericho]

Around the All Star break, and during his win streak, wasn't Halladay pitching on 3 days rest a few times?

[treble 0]

Yeah, I think he went on 3 days rest 3 times and he was awesome. Something like 3-0 with a really stingy ERA.

[CanadianChris 0]

Yeah, they tried going to a four-man rotation back in June. They scrapped it after about a week due to a couple of the starters (most notably Cory Lidle) being pussies. They did run Halladay out there on three days' rest a couple more times, though.