• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Phillies-Blue Jays Preview

Jun 25, 2010 - 4:43 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Philadelphia (37-32) at Toronto (38-34), 7:05 p.m. EDT

Looking ahead at the 2010 schedule in the aftermath of the Roy Halladay trade, the Toronto Blue Jays' home series against the Philadelphia Phillies in late June figured to be a big draw. Halladay would make his return to the Rogers Centre, and the Blue Jays were planning a ceremony to honor the perennial All-Star.

The only problem with that is the series is now being played in Philadelphia.

Because of the G20 Summit taking place in Toronto, this interleague set has been moved to Citizens Bank Park, meaning Halladay's first start against his former team Friday night will come roughly 500 miles away from its original location.

Halladay (8-6, 2.43 ERA) spent his first 12 seasons in the majors in Toronto, compiling a 148-76 record and winning the 2003 AL Cy Young Award. The six-time All-Star never pitched in the postseason with the Blue Jays (39-34), though, and wanted an opportunity to win a World Series.

Fearful of losing him to free agency, Toronto sent Halladay to the Phillies (38-32) in a blockbuster four-team trade last December.

"Toronto will forever have a special place in my heart," Halladay said in a full-page newspaper advertisement a week after the trade. "The memories will last a lifetime and so will my gratitude."

The feelings were mutual. The Blue Jays planned a tribute to the former ace, but those festivities were put on hold May 11, when baseball commissioner Bud Selig announced this series would move to Philadelphia because of security issues for the G20 Summit.

"It's particularly disappointing, for very obvious reasons," Blue Jays president and CEP Paul Beeston told the team's official website. "Roy, who had been with the organization for as long as he'd been here, it was our opportunity for the fans and for ourselves to give him the appreciation for what he had done and what he had meant to this team."

The rescheduled games will be considered home games for the Blue Jays, who defeated St. Louis 5-0 on Thursday. Toronto will bat last and the DH will be used.

"It will be very interesting," Philadelphia's Shane Victorino said. "It'll be a little unusual."

Almost as unusual as seeing the Phillies wearing their road uniforms at Citizens Bank Park is Halladay's current losing skid.

Halladay has recorded a 4.09 ERA while losing his last three starts, and the Phillies have won just twice in his last eight outings. This is just the fourth time Halladay has lost three in a row. He has never dropped four consecutive starts.

It hasn't all been the right-hander's fault. Halladay's 1.54 run-support average since May 18 is second-worst in the majors.

If the Phillies swing the bats like they did in Thursday's 12-3 win over Cleveland, Halladay shouldn't have a problem. Philadelphia, which has won three straight and six of eight, pounded out 15 hits and scored its most runs since a 12-2 victory in Pittsburgh on May 17.

That contest also was the final victory in the Phillies' last four-game winning streak. They'll seek to equal that run when they face Toronto starter Jesse Litsch (0-1, 6.75).

Litsch, who missed nearly all of 2009 while recovering from elbow ligament replacement surgery, was knocked around for seven runs and nine hits in 2 1-3 innings of a 10-3 loss to Colorado in his season debut. The right-hander rebounded nicely from that shelling, yielding three hits in seven innings of Saturday's 3-0 win over San Francisco, but didn't receive a decision.

"It was very satisfying," Litsch said. "To come back after the last start and do that was definitely a plus in my book."

In his only previous start against the Phillies on May 20, 2007, Litsch gave up four runs and seven hits in four innings of a 5-3 loss at Philadelphia.