After being in the middle of constant trade rumors for weeks, you'd think that maybe Roy Halladay would be a tad distracted. Maybe not.
The Blue Jays ace stifled the Red Sox (55-36) yesterday as Toronto (46-47) won 3-1 at the Rogers Centre to take the weekend series.
It might be the timing-the dead of summer-but Halladay has been talked about endlessly by various baseball writers and national media. After spending his whole career in Toronto, he deserves to experience playoff baseball, something that the Blue Jays likely won't sniff for a while since they're in the same division as Boston, the Yankees and Rays.
The Phillies have been the most consistently mentioned suitor and if Philadelphia could acquire Halladay, I think it would make them the favorites to come out of the National League. That's how good this guy is; he's probably a nose ahead of Tim Lincecum for the title of best pitcher just because he's a veteran that's been around longer. I just hope he doesn't end up somewhere else in the AL.
He improved to 11-3 with a complete game gem. He allowed one run on six hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.
Jon Lester (8-7) matched him for a while but he didn't get any help from the Sox' dead bats. Lester went seven innings, allowing three runs on five hits with four walks and six strikeouts.
David Ortiz knocked in Dustin Pedroia in the first for Boston's only run. They couldn't make anything else happen for the rest of the game and they resorted to something completely out of character-swinging at first pitches-as the innings dragged on.
Rod Barajas provided all the offense for the Blue Jays. He had a two-run bloop double in the second and a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Boston flew to Texas after yesterday's contest and will play three against the surprising Rangers. Fresh off a sweep of the Tigers, the Yankees sit just one game back of the Red Sox entering tonight.
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