Halladay

When Skip Lichtfuss picked All-American midfielder Del Halladay in the second round of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League draft, he knew there was a chance Halladay, a native of British Columbia, would not be on the Thunder's roster this season.And as it turns out, he won't.The Thunder unveiled its roster yesterday and while there are 16 veterans in the 23-player lineup, Halladay isn't among them. Halladay, the Thunder's top draft pick and the eighth pick overall, has decided to return to Canada after he completes his degree this winter at Loyola College.

Phillies right-hander Roy Halladay was a unanimous selection on Tuesday as the NL Cy Young Award winner. Halladay became the 13th unanimous choice in the NL, as he placed first on all 32 ballots cast by two writers from each NL city to finish with 224 points, 102 ahead of the Cardinals' Adam Wainwright , making him the fifth different pitcher to be honored in both leagues. This year the Baseball Writers' Association of America expanded the ballot to five pitchers, meaning the total was based on a tabulation system that rewards seven points for first place, four for second, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth.

Given another chance to beat Toronto Blue Jays starter Roy Halladay yesterday, the Orioles once again failed to figure out a way to get it done. All they could do was take their hacks and marvel at his talents. Halladay improved to 18-4 with a 2.86 ERA lifetime against the Orioles. He held them to one run over seven innings, walking one and striking out six. The Orioles' only run came when Luke Scott's flyout scored Aubrey Huff in the sixth inning. Huff and Melvin Mora singled with one out. "I tell you, he's probably the best in the league," manager Dave Trembley said of Halladay.

SAN FRANCISCO — Roy Halladay pitched a perfect game in May. He pitched a no-hitter in his postseason debut. But Brad Lidge said Halladay's performance Thursday night in a 4-2 victory over the Giants that extended the Phillies' season ranked among his greatest pitching achievements. By itself, Halladay's line in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series wasn't particularly remarkable. He pitched six innings, giving up two runs and six hits. But from the second inning on, Halladay pitched with a mild groin pull.

Gone, it seems, are the days when the Orioles could scratch and claw and eke out victories in games when the pitching was solid for both sides. These days, they either blow out their opponent or they lose. That made it tough for rookie pitcher Sean Douglass last night, when he made his best impression of the season and still came away with another loss. Douglass held the Toronto Blue Jays to two runs in seven innings, but the Orioles were the ones slamming their bats and tossing their helmets in disgust.

TORONTO - This time, Rodrigo Lopez didn't exhibit the slightest trace of disgust when manager Mike Hargrove left the dugout and began his walk toward the mound. Lopez didn't snap his head, turn his back, grip the ball as if trying to make it explode before his temper. His body language wasn't bad yesterday - just his pitching. Matched up against Toronto's Roy Halladay, who brought his best stuff, Lopez took a worse beating than a Mike Tyson antagonist at 3 a.m. He couldn't escape the fourth inning, or the Blue Jays' relentless assault, and the Orioles completed the series with a 10-1 loss at SkyDome.

The Orioles had found a nifty formula in their four consecutive wins heading into yesterday - build an early lead against the other team's starter and coast home on a solid outing by their own. They seemed primed to test it again with their best pitcher, Erik Bedard, taking the mound against the Toronto Blue Jays. But the Blue Jays threw a chaotic element into the equation in the form of their own ace and Cy Young contender, Roy Halladay. Halladay carried a perfect game through 5 1/3 innings and the Blue Jays hit Bedard harder than he has been hit in months to hand the Orioles a 9-2 loss before 23,639 at Camden Yards.

Toronto -- In fairness to Adam Loewen, he hasn't exactly enjoyed a semi-charmed baseball life in his first three weeks as a major leaguer. In his first start, he opposed Randy Johnson and the New York Yankees. Roy Halladay and the Toronto Blue Jays were his next two matchups, and the 22-year-old is tentatively scheduled to go up against another likely future Hall of Famer, New York Mets left-hander Tom Glavine, on Sunday. Loewen, of course, would have to remain in the Orioles' rotation, which now appears to be anything but a sure thing.

When the Orioles went through their abysmal 4-32 finish last season, no team gave them more trouble than the Toronto Blue Jays, and no pitcher gave them more fits than Roy Halladay. The schedule-makers were kind enough to keep the Blue Jays away from the Orioles for the season's first 11 weeks, but Toronto was back at Camden Yards last night, and so was Halladay. Jay Gibbons hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, but beyond that Halladay was nearly flawless, as the Blue Jays did enough damage against Orioles starter Omar Daal to pull out a 6-2 victory before a crowd of 28,828.

2983 Last night: 1-for-4 against Blue Jays with a home run Tonight: 7:07, vs. Blue Jays (Halladay 10-4)

Shutdown Is this going be the October that pitchers get revenge for that 15-14 abomination in the 1993 World Series? It sure looks like it based on the early playoff games. Roy Halladay's no-hitter was one of three virtuoso performances in the first six division series games. Tim Lincecum's two-hitter and a combined two-hitter by Texas lefty C.J. Wilson, Darren O'Day and Darren Oliver contributed to the eight playoff teams batting a combined .167 entering the weekend.

SAN FRANCISCO — Roy Halladay threw a no-hitter. Tim Lincecum might have done him one better. Not in the headlines, of course. In degree of difficulty, however, Lincecum might have aced his rival ace. Lincecum pitched a two-hit complete game and struck out 14 Thursday night to carry the Giants to a 1-0 victory over the Braves in Game 1 of their National League Division Series. The 14 strikeouts are a postseason mark for the Giants. Halladay got four runs of support in his no-hitter.

PHILADELPHIA — When Roy Halladay came off the field after his historic performance in the opening game of the Reds-Phillies National League Division Series, his teammates closed the clubhouse door behind him, then stood and applauded. But the cheering lasted just a few seconds before Halladay cut it off. "All he said was let's win two more," Phillies reliever Ryan Madson said. That's because as brilliant as Halladay was in becoming just the second pitcher to throw a postseason no-hitter, it won't mean anything if the Phillies don't win two of the possibly next four games with the Reds.

PHILADELPHIA — No active big league starter had gone longer without pitching in the playoffs than the Phillies' Roy Halladay. So in Wednesday's opener of the National League Division Series, he more than made up for the wait, no-hitting the Cincinnati Reds in a 4-0 win. Halladay was masterful, retiring the first 14 Reds before walking Jay Bruce on a full-count pitch with two outs in the fifth inning. But that was all Cincinnati got as Halladay came within a pitch of his second perfect game of the season and the second perfect game in postseason history.

No active big-league starter has gone longer without pitching in the playoffs than the Phillies' Roy Halladay. So in Wednesday's opener of the National League Division Series he more than made up for the wait, no-hitting the Cincinnati Reds in a 4-0 win. Halladay was masterful, retiring the first 14 Reds before walking Jay Bruce on a full-count pitch with two out in the fifth. But that was all Cincinnati would get as Halladay came within a pitch of his second perfect game of the season and the second perfect game in postseason history.

No matter how fruitless the recent past has been for the Toronto Blue Jays, their fans could always take solace in knowing they had baseball's most consistent pitcher in Roy Halladay. The 32-year-old right-hander won the 2003 American League Cy Young Award and finished in the top five in voting each of the past four years. But that streak will be broken in 2010. This offseason, Halladay was dealt to the National League and its two-time defending champion Philadelphia Phillies in a four-way trade with the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics that netted the Blue Jays three prospects, including highly touted pitcher Kyle Drabek, 22. It signaled the end of an era and the beginning of a rebuilding effort.

BAD DAY FOR BIRKINS Making his second career start, Kurt Birkins was unable to get an out. Birkins allowed hits to all six batters he faced before acting manager Tom Trebelhorn removed him. Birkins was credited with six runs, with Alex Rios hitting a two-run double, followed by a two-run homer from Frank Thomas. Birkins then allowed a single to Aaron Hill and a double to Matt Stairs, leading Trebelhorn to bring in Rob Bell. Bell allowed a two-run single to Gregg Zaun, giving Toronto seven consecutive hits to start the game, a club record.

TORONTO - -There are bound to be other days like this in Brian Matusz's career. Even Matusz's counterpart Sunday, the great Roy Halladay, has had games in which his pitches miss the strike zone or are pounded around the ballpark. By the middle of the third inning of his team's 7-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays before an announced 27,464 at Rogers Centre, Orioles manager Dave Trembley had concluded that he had seen enough damage inflicted on his prized rookie pitcher. Matusz had already given up three home runs, walked two batters and watched Alex Rios' line single whiz over his head and into center field.

How badly is Cliff Lee's head spinning? Lee leads the Phillies to the World Series, delivering one of the best postseason runs by a starter since a third round was added, and only a little more than a month later he is traded for the second time this year. The first trade was in July, only about eight months after he had won the American League Cy Young Award. Now that he has gone from the Indians to the Phillies to the Mariners in four of the craziest months imaginable, he must be ready to settle down, right?

TORONTO - -There are bound to be other days like this in Brian Matusz's career. Even Matusz's counterpart Sunday, the great Roy Halladay, has had games in which his pitches miss the strike zone or are pounded around the ballpark. By the middle of the third inning of his team's 7-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays before an announced 27,464 at Rogers Centre, Orioles manager Dave Trembley had concluded that he had seen enough damage inflicted on his prized rookie pitcher. Matusz had already given up three home runs, walked two batters and watched Alex Rios' line single whiz over his head and into center field.