It seemed too good to be true. Evidently it was.
The Orioles season-best, four-game winning streak came to an abrupt halt in the same game that a string of impressive starts by Birds? pitchers ended.
The Birds (55-69) dropped a 9-2 final to Toronto (66-58) in front of 23,639 fans at a warm and humid Oriole Park at Camden Yards Sunday.
Toronto ace Roy Halladay quieted an offense that a day earlier hit three home runs in a 15-0 thrashing of the Blue Jays.
Halladay (16-3) started with 5.1 perfect innings, and allowed four hits and two runs in seven innings. In a non-save situation, former Orioles closer B.J. Ryan finished off the win a perfect ninth.
Halladay earned his third win of the year against the O?s, and his 14th against the ball club in his career ? the most against any opponent.
“The bottom line was he shut down a team that has been tough on him,” said Toronto manager John Gibbons. “They have been swinging the bats real well.”
The Orioles had scored 22 runs in the previous two games of the three-game series. Halladay hadn?t allowed a baserunner in 5.1 innings Sunday when rookie Brandon Fahey singled in the sixth.
The O?s got to him for two singles and a run in the inning. Miguel Tejada his 22nd home run of the season, a hit a 420-foot home run off Halladay in the seventh.
“Today he was unbelievable,” Tejada said. “He?s the kind of guy that?s aggressive and makes the hitters swing at bad pitches. What can I say, he?s their ace.”
He?s also their stopper. Over the past two seasons, the Blue Jays are 22-4 with Halladay on the hill following a Toronto loss.
On the flip side, Orioles starter and Canadian-native Erik Bedard was greeted by a hungry Blue Jays? lineup.
“I thought Erik threw the ball fairly well,” Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo said. “He?s kind of a guy that, when he gives up some runs, still looks like he?s throwing the ball good.”
Over five innings, Bedard (12-9) allowed seven hits and seven runs ? five of which were earned.
On the day, Toronto hit three two-run home runs. The third came from left fielder Reed Johnson in the eighth, as he drove a Russ Ortiz pitch 423 feet into the Orioles bullpen.
