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Blue Jays go deep twice on Kazmir, beat Devil Rays

Apr 8, 2007 - 9:36 PM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- When the Toronto Blue Jays did manage contact against Scott Kazmir, they made the most of it.

The Blue Jays struck out 10 times against Kazmir but also got homers from Vernon Wells and Reed Johnson in a 6-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Ace Roy Halladay (1-0) pitched seven solid innings for his first win of the season for the Blue Jays, who took the final two games of the three-game series. The former Cy Young Award winner won his duel with Kazmir, Tampa Bay's young ace lefthander.

"It's like usual," Wells said. "He'll come after you. He's got some of the best stuff in the league. If he happens to make a mistake, you can't miss it. That's the biggest thing. If you don't get it, you'll be walking back to the dugout."

Kazmir began the game in record-setting fashion, recording the first eight outs via strikeout, including a team-record six in a row. However, that streak came after he was reached for a first-inning homer by Wells.

Staked to a 2-1 lead entering the fifth, Kazmir (0-1) again was hurt by the long ball. He got two quick outs before Royce Clayton doubled and No. 9 hitter John McDonald singled. Johnson followed with his first homer of the season, a shot to left field that gave Toronto a 4-2 lead.

"Just a couple of pitches I wish I could have back," Kazmir said. "Coulda, woulda, shoulda. One hanging slider (to Wells) and one fastball I wanted to go in that came right over the plate. I was just locked in, focused on the catcher trying to throw strikes."

"He's good," Johnson said. "Normally the last couple of years he comes at us with straight fastballs and it just comes at you at 95 (miles per hour). It's pretty straight. But now he is mixing that two-seamer in and it's really running off the plate. He kept throwing it out there with a lot of movement and made it tough on us early."

The homers were enough for Halladay, who gave up three runs, seven hits and three walks in seven innings, striking out seven. The righthander improved to 9-4 all-time vs. Tampa Bay.

With closer B.J. Ryan unavailable after pitching two straight days, Casey Janssen retired all six batters he faced for his first career save.

Kazmir also went seven innings, giving up four runs, six hits and two walks as he fell to 2-3 all-time vs. Toronto.

"That was exceptional," Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "He had everything going on, the slider, the change. In New York (in his first start), he had the fastball but did not have a feel for his off-speed pitches. He certainly had that today."

Halladay also had trouble keeping the ball in the park, surrendering a leadoff homer to Rocco Baldelli in the fourth that gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead. Baldelli had three hits and scored twice.

"Doc battled," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "It wasn't an easy day for him."

The Devil Rays got their first run on a broken play. Rookie Delmon Young doubled to open the second and took third on a groundout before a walk to rookie Elijah Dukes, who broke for second and drew a throw from Halladay but stopped between the bases. While the Jays ran him down, Young broke for home and scored without a throw.

Tampa Bay closed to 4-3 in the sixth on Young's RBI single, but Toronto put together four singles in the eighth against Brian Stokes, with Aaron Hill and Gregg Zaun each delivering an RBI for a 6-3 lead.