• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Blue Jays-Rays Preview

Jul 9, 2009 - 5:15 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Toronto (43-42) at Tampa Bay (45-39), 12:08 p.m. EDT

All of Roy Halladay's 297 major league appearances have come with the Toronto Blue Jays, but it's now questionable which uniform the former AL Cy Young Award winner will be wearing for his 300th outing.

Halladay will pitch Thursday afternoon for the first time since the Blue Jays announced they are fielding trade offers for their longtime ace, and the reasons for his potential departure are clear as he tries to stop his struggling team from being swept by the host Tampa Bay Rays.

The big right-hander has long been associated with Toronto, winning 141 games and tossing 43 complete games for the Blue Jays since the club selected Halladay in the first round of the 1995 draft.

With the team slipping in the difficult AL East, however, and Halladay's contract due to expire after next season, Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi said Tuesday he'd consider trading a pitcher who will make his sixth All-Star appearance next week.

Halladay (10-2, 2.79 ERA) can tie Boston's Tim Wakefield for the AL lead in wins with a victory.

"If someone wants Roy and they're willing to blow us away, we'd be willing to listen, that's all I'm saying," Ricciardi said.

For several years, the Blue Jays (43-43) have struggled to keep up with the Red Sox and New York Yankees in the division, and they're currently nine games behind first-place Boston. The Rays' recent resurgence has only made things tougher, relegating Toronto to fourth place despite its fast start this year.

Halladay's recent groin injury hasn't helped matters. He spent time last month on the disabled list, and is 0-1 with a 4.85 ERA in two starts since being activated. He lost to the Rays after allowing two runs in six innings of a 4-1 defeat June 29.

Since his last victory June 2, Toronto is 13-19. Halladay has a full no-trade clause, but could approve a deal to a team where he has a better chance of pitching in the postseason for the first time.

"All I can do is try to avoid that becoming a distraction and go from there," Halladay said. "It's a situation where, I think, if it's best for the team, it's best for me, then it just means you go from there.

"Really at this point, I just want to focus on my job here," he added.

Right now, that's to stop Toronto's latest slide, as the Blue Jays have lost five of six to start their road trip. They've dropped 11 of 13 at Tropicana Field dating back to late 2007.

The Rays, meanwhile, have surged to within 5 1/2 games of Boston. Tampa Bay (46-39) has won 17 of its last 25, including four of five against Toronto over that span.

The reigning AL champs entered this series with a four-game losing streak, but Pat Burrell hit a walk-off home run for a 3-1, 11-inning victory Tuesday, and Ben Zobrist's ninth-inning RBI single sealed a 10-9 win Wednesday.

"The last two games have been great for us. They're big because they're games we're going to need to win the AL East," Zobrist said. "That's our goal, and we're going to keep pushing for that."

Manager Joe Maddon's club will now turn to David Price (2-3, 5.21) as the rookie looks to rebound from the shortest start of his career. The left-hander lasted 1 1-3 innings Saturday at Texas, walking five and allowing six runs in a 12-4 defeat.

"He just really struggled with his fastball command," Maddon said of the former No. 1 overall draft pick, who has never faced the Blue Jays. "He could not throw the fastball where he wanted. That's the key to unlocking all his potential."