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Rookie pitcher shuts down Orioles

May 16, 2007 - 3:22 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- The Toronto Blue Jays didn't have Roy Halladay, but his replacement did a fine job of emulating the staff ace.

In his major league debut, Jesse Litsch 8 2/3 strong innings as the Blue Jays defeated the Orioles, 2-1, on Tuesday

The 22-year-old righthander was called up from Class AA New Hampshire on Tuesday to fill in for the injured Halladay, who went on the disabled list Friday following an emergency appendectomy.

"I'm on top of the world. I feel great right now," Litsch said. "This was a dream come true. I'm very, very happy with myself right now. You always expect the best. I was just trying to throw my game and it worked for me tonight."

Litsch (1-0) allowed one run, four hits and three walks.

"The kid was outstanding," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "He picked the plate apart, had a lot of movement on his pitches and got a lot of ground balls. It was a special night. He'll never forget that (performance)."

Litsch came within one out of completing the game, but manager John Gibbons decided to call upon reliever Jeremy Accardo after Litsch walked Miguel Tejada with two outs in the ninth.

Accardo allowed a single to Ramon Hernandez before getting Aubrey Huff to ground out to end the game. The righthander has three saves and has tossed 18 scoreless innings to start the year, the longest stretch by a Toronto pitcher since Paul Quantrill's club record of 23 innings in 2001.

"I would have loved to finish (the game), but that's why we have closers and relievers," Litsch said. "Regardless, this is probably the best day of my life."

"He had command of the zone today," said Huff, who was a member of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2002 while Litsch was a bat boy. "It was a little strange to go up against him, but I'm happy for the guy."

Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera (3-4) was pinned with the loss, though he pitched effectively, allowing two runs, three hits and five walks while striking out six in eight innings.

With the game tied, 1-1, in the sixth, Troy Glaus drove in the decisive run with a two-out single to right field that scored Alex Rios, who accounted for the Blue Jays' only other tally with a home run in the first.

"At that point we were just trying to scratch and claw and do anything to get one run across," Glaus said. "I was just trying to be agressive. It wasn't a great swing but it was good enough to get it to fall in."

Perhaps taking advantage of some jitters, the Orioles scored their only run in their first at-bat against Litsch.

Brian Roberts walked and moved to third on a single by Nick Markakis. Litsch ended the potentially big inning by getting Tejada to ground into a double play as Roberts scored.

Toronto wasted no time getting the run back in the bottom of the frame when Rios led off with a home run to center field. It was his fourth leadoff homer of the year and his eighth overall.

After allowing that blast on his second pitch of the game, Cabrera settled down and retired the next 13 batters he faced.

With one out in the fifth, the 6-9 hurler allowed back-to-back walks to Lyle Overbay and Aaron Hill. After a mound visit by pitching coach Leo Mazzone, Cabrera regained his form and ended the inning with a popout from Jason Phillips and John McDonald's groundout.

Cabrera also escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the seventh after another visit by Mazzone.

"(Litsch) reminded me of myself in my first start," Cabrera said. "I won my first game, 1-0, and threw something like six innings. Good for him."

Litsch scattered three hits and two walks after the first inning and did not allow a runner to reach second base the rest of the way.

"In a way he resembled (Halladay) a little bit," Hill said. "He was just getting the ball, not shaking anything off, and that keeps the guys in the game. You're going to see good plays behind him because we're ready to go."

Litsch was 5-1 with a 0.96 ERA for New Hampshire this season. In his last start on Thursday, Litsch pitched seven innings of no-hit ball before leaving the game. A reliever allowed a hit in the ninth to end the combined no-hit bid.

"I didn't even know (Litsch's) name until yesterday," Phillips said. "He settled down after the first inning, hit both sides of the plate and executed exactly what he was trying to do all night long."

Roberts singled in the sixth inning to extended his hitting streak to 14 games for Baltimore, which has lost 12 of their last 17 games at Rogers Centre.