Thomas, Halladay put big hurt on Orioles

Sep 15, 2007, 20:40 GMT

Toronto, ON - Frank Thomas hit a two-run home run and Roy Halladay pitched seven strong innings as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 8-3, in the middle contest of a three-game set.

Alex Rios and Gregg Zaun each knocked in a pair of runs while Halladay (15-7) gave up just one run on five hits for the Blue Jays, who had lost six of seven.

Aubrey Huff went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI for the Orioles, who saw their modest two-game winning streak come to an end.

Baltimore starter Kurt Birkins (1-2) had a forgettable outing in his second- career start. The left-hander gave up six hits and six runs without recording an out.

Vernon Wells and Reed Johnson led off the game with back-to-back singles before Rios' double to center sent both runners home. Thomas then stepped to the plate and sent a 3-1 pitch over the center field wall to make it 4-0.

An Aaron Hill single and followed by a Matt Stairs double sent Birkins to the showers early. Rob Bell took the mound for Baltimore and Zaun greeted him with a single to left that scored both runners. Zaun was thrown out at second trying to extend his base-hit into a double, and Bell retired the next two batters to keep the damage to six runs.

The Orioles had runners on the corners with no outs in the third but came up empty. Freddie Bynum hit a groundball to first and Stairs threw Scott Moore out at home. Halladay then induced two more groundouts to end the inning.

Baltimore finally got on the board in the fourth on Huff's RBI double, but a two-out error by O's right-fielder Nick Markakis in the seventh allowed Toronto to plate two runs for an 8-1 lead.

In the eighth, J.R. House led off with a double and came around to score on Bynum's subsequent double. Jason Frasor walked Brian Roberts before being replaced by Scott Downs.

Tike Redman's groundout moved the runners over a base and Markakis' groundout brought Baltimore within five runs. However, Casey Janssen got the final out in the eighth and then pitched the ninth to seal the win for Toronto.

Game Notes

Halladay won for the first time since August 14...Johnson finished 3-for-5 for Toronto...Thomas is two homers away from tying Mel Ott (511) for 20th place on the all-time list...House hit just his second career double...Attendance was 37,441.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

.