Halladay helps Blue Jays beat Royals 4-0

[June 08, 2009]  TORONTO (AP) -- Roy Halladay pitched a seven-hitter to become the first 10-game winner in the major leagues and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 4-0 on Sunday.

Aaron Hill and Lyle Overbay homered for Toronto, which won the rubber game of the weekend series.

Halladay needed just 97 pitches to record his 43rd career complete game and 12th career shutout. He was coming off a career-high 133 pitches in a complete-game victory over the Los Angeles Angels in his last start.

The right-hander allowed just seven singles while winning his seventh straight decision. He struck out six and walked none.

Halladay, the 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner, has gone at least seven innings in all 13 of his starts and has not lost since April 21, when Texas beat him 5-4.

Halladay's only trouble came in the seventh, when the Royals loaded the bases with one out on singles by Mike Jacobs, Mark Teahen and Alberto Callaspo. Halladay got out of it quickly, striking out Miguel Olivo on three pitches and getting Mitch Maier on a first-pitch grounder.

Kansas City, which snapped an eight-game losing streak by beating Toronto on Saturday, lost for the 21st time in 27 games.

Overbay extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a towering solo homer in the second that bounced off the center-field restaurant. It was his seventh homer of the season and second in three games.

Hill snapped an 0-for-25 slump with a two-run drive to left in the third as the Blue Jays sent Kyle Davies to his fifth straight loss.

Davies (2-6) allowed four runs and nine hits in eight innings. He is 0-5 with a 5.31 ERA in his last seven starts.

Notes: Toronto 3B Scott Rolen (back) was held out of the starting lineup for the second straight day. ... Toronto finished 3-5 against Kansas City, dropping the season series for the first time since 2001. ... Since 2003, Halladay is 52-19 with a 3.17 ERA when pitching following a Blue Jays loss. ... Of Halladay's 97 pitches, 73 were strikes.

[Associated Press]

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