Toronto — Toronto -Roy Halladay is a five-time All-Star, a one-time Cy Young Award recipient and a two-time 20-game winner, honors that a pitcher obviously doesn't earn from just dominating one team. But make no mistake, when it comes to being controlled by the Toronto Blue Jays' ace right-hander, the Orioles are in exclusive company.
Halladay looked very ordinary against the Orioles for about the length of time it took Nick Markakis' two-run homer in the first inning to reach the right-field seats. He was rarely dominant in Friday's series opener, but he was good enough to pitch eight solid innings in Toronto's 8-4 victory over the reeling Orioles before an announced 20,202 at the Rogers Centre.
The Orioles' fourth straight loss, and their 12th defeat in 15 games, appeared to be little more than a formality once the Blue Jays scored four times in the fourth inning off a shaky Mark Hendrickson, giving Halladay a two-run lead with which to work.
Halladay (5-1) allowed four runs (three earned) on 10 hits, striking out six and walking one. He improved to 19-4 in 29 career appearances against the Orioles, his most victories against any opponent. Since his last loss to the Orioles, which came almost four years ago on May 4, 2005, Halladay is 10-0 with a 2.71 ERA in 11 starts.
"It was a typical Roy Halladay night," said Orioles catcher Gregg Zaun, who spent the previous five seasons with the Blue Jays. "He gave up a couple early, but once he does that, he seems to tighten up the belt and put up zeros and give his team a chance to come back and win. That's something I expected from him. He gets stronger as the game goes on and he certainly was true to form. That's the Roy I know."
The Orioles (9-14) are 0-10 this season when scoring fewer than five runs, a statistic that obviously speaks more to their pitching struggles. Those struggles continued Friday with Hendrickson giving up all his earned runs over five-plus innings in the Blue Jays' four-run fourth, when they took the lead for good.
It was probably a better fate than the tall left-hander deserved after allowing 12 Blue Jays to reach base, including five hits - former Oriole Kevin Millar's two-run double gave Toronto the lead - and a walk in the fourth inning.
"In a game of this magnitude going against Roy, small mistakes get magnified," said Hendrickson, who fell to 1-4 with a 5.79 ERA. "He was on top of his game for most of the game, so give him a lot of credit. Tonight I felt as good as I've probably felt all year, but when you pitch against Roy, he's always on top of his game."
