BOSTON -- Roy Halladay pitched a three-hitter for his second consecutive shutout and the Toronto Blue Jays sent the Boston Red Sox to their sixth straight loss, 12-0 on Wednesday night.
The Red Sox started only two regulars after clinching the AL wild card late Tuesday night. They were hitless until Joey Gathright's clean single to left with one out in the sixth. Rocco Baldelli singled in the seventh and Gathright added an infield single in the eighth.
One night earlier, Boston lost 8-7 to Toronto but locked up a postseason berth less than three hours later when Texas lost to the Los Angeles Angels. The Red Sox celebrated in their clubhouse deep into the night.
The Blue Jays hit four homers -- two by Randy Ruiz and one each by Lyle Overbay and Jose Bautista -- one day after hitting six. They have 46 in September, two shy of the team record for any month set in June 2000.
Halladay (17-10) had a strong outing in what might be his last game for the Blue Jays. They entertained offers for him at the trade deadline but held onto him. He has one year left on his contract and could be traded in the offseason, although he'd have to agree to a deal.
Five days after blanking Seattle on seven hits, Halladay pitched his fourth shutout this season and ninth complete game, both major league highs. He struck out six, walked two and hit designated hitter David Ortiz with a pitch. Boston's other regular in the lineup was shortstop Alex Gonzalez, and he came out after six innings even though he wasn't hurt. Full story
Reds 6, Cardinals 1
CINCINNATI -- Laynce Nix hit a grand slam off John Smoltz, Bronson Arroyo pitched into the ninth inning and the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals.
Arroyo allowed one run and four hits in 8 1/3 innings, falling just short of his fourth complete game of the season. The right-hander improved to 7-5 with a 2.07 ERA in his last 16 starts, tying his career high with his 15th victory of the season.
St. Louis has lost three straight since clinching the NL Central title with a 6-3 win Saturday at Colorado and has dropped five of six overall. Smoltz (1-3), hoping to earn a spot in the Cardinals' postseason rotation, gave up six runs and six hits with five walks and three strikeouts in four innings.
Cincinnati scored twice in the second and four in the third as Smoltz struggled with his control. The gametime temperature was 59 degrees, and the right-hander seemed to have trouble gripping the ball. He tossed several out of play even before trying to pitch with them.
Rays 5, Orioles 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- James Shields carried a shutout into the eighth inning, Ben Zobrist hit a three-run homer and the Tampa Bay Rays extended the Baltimore Orioles' losing streak to 13 games with a victory.
Baltimore can tie the second-longest skid in franchise history set in August 1954 with a loss in the series finale against the Rays on Thursday night. The Orioles' longest losing streak is a season-opening 21-game slide in 1988.
Shields (11-12) allowed three runs and six hits over eight innings.
Carl Crawford also homered for the Rays (82-76), who guaranteed their second-ever winning season. Tampa Bay had never finished above .500 before going 97-65 during last season's run to the AL championship.
Pirates 4, Cubs 0 (Game 1)
CHICAGO -- Charlie Morton pitched a four-hitter to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a victory over the Chicago Cubs in the first game of a doubleheader.
Jason Jaramillo had a two-run double in the first inning, when the Pirates did all of their scoring against Ted Lilly. Lastings Milledge made the entire rally possible by wiping out shortstop Ryan Theriot to break up what would have been an inning-ending double play.
Morton (5-9), a 25-year-old right-hander who had never pitched more than seven innings in a game, also set a career high with eight strikeouts. Acquired in the June 3 trade that sent Nate McLouth to Atlanta, he walked three and hit two batters.
It was quite a departure from Aug. 14, when Morton gave up 10 runs in one-plus inning in Pittsburgh's 17-2 loss at Wrigley Field. Other than that outing, Morton has a 3.66 ERA. Zach Duke had the Pirates' only other shutout this year.
Pirates 8, Cubs 2 (Game 2)
CHICAGO -- Ryan Doumit had four hits and four RBI to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs for a doubleheader sweep.
Jeff Karstens tossed five innings for the second victory by a no-name Pittsburgh pitcher over a high-priced Cubs starter on the day. A few hours before Karstens beat Carlos Zambrano, Charlie Morton threw a four-hitter in a 4-0 victory over Ted Lilly.
While Karstens and Morton make just over $400,000 each, the combined 2009 salary of Zambrano and Lilly is $31.75 million -- or about $577,000 per start.
Doumit hit his 10th homer to help Pittsburgh complete its first doubleheader sweep at Wrigley Field since June 20, 1983. Jason Jaramillo, who backs up Doumit at catcher, had a two-run double in the opener.
Angels 5, Rangers 0
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Matt Palmer combined with four relievers on a one-hitter and the Los Angeles Angels tied a club record for most runs in a season with a victory against the Texas Rangers.
Palmer (11-2) gave up a leadoff single in the first inning to Julio Borbon, walked two batters and induced a pair of inning-ending double plays in his 13th and final start of the season.
Darren Oliver struck out the side in the sixth. Jose Arredondo, Kevin Jepsen and fellow rookie Rafael Rodriguez each pitched a hitless inning.
It was the sixth combined one-hitter in Angels history and the first since July 24, 2004, when Bartolo Colon, Francisco Rodriguez and Troy Percival teamed up to beat the Rangers 2-0 in Anaheim. Texas' only hit that night was a two-out single in the third by Michael Young.
Mariners 7, Athletics 0
SEATTLE -- Ken Griffey Jr. hit a three-run homer and Brandon Morrow allowed one hit over eight impressive innings, sending the Seattle Mariners to a victory over the Oakland Athletics.
Griffey's 629th career home run came in the first inning. Morrow (2-4) yielded only an infield single to Rajai Davis in the fourth.
Davis hit a high-hop grounder up the middle, and shortstop Josh Wilson ranged far to his left to snag the ball behind the bag. Wilson made a running, off-balance throw to first baseman Jack Hannahan, who scooped it on one bounce. But the speedy Davis clearly beat the throw.
Morrow threw 105 pitches in the longest start of his career. He tired in the eighth, issuing consecutive two-out walks to Eric Patterson and Travis Buck. Morrow then got Cliff Pennington on a fly to right.
