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Halladay outduels Buehrle as Blue Jays edge White Sox

Jun 1, 2007 - 4:53 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- In his race with Mark Buehrle to see who would get to 100 wins first, Roy Halladay proved to be the better man.

Halladay pitched seven outstanding innings and Aaron Hill homered as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Chicago White Sox, 2-0, on Thursday.

Frank Thomas hit his 495 homer in the bottom of the eighth for Toronto, which has won three of four. Chicago (24-25) has lost a season high-tying five in a row to drop one game under .500

Halladay (5-2) was just activated from the disabled list after being rushed to a Toronto hospital on May 11 with acute appendicitis. The 2003 Cy Young award winner was expected to miss four to six weeks following surgery but said he felt good after throwing 65 pitches in a simulated game last Friday.

"(Halladay) gave us just what we needed," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He was as strong tonight as I've seen him. That was pretty impressive considering what he's come through."

The 6-6, 225-pound right hander scattered six hits and struck out seven to become the fifth Blue Jays pitcher to record 100 wins. Dave Stieb (175), Jim Clancy (128), Jimmy Key (116) and Pat Hentgen (107) are the other hurlers to reach the century mark for Toronto.

"It's a nice milestone," said Halladay, who became the fastest Blue Jay to record 100 victories. "It's not something you set as a goal, but it's nice to be back pitching and get it out of the way. It's one of those things when you're done playing you can look back on, but for now hopefully there's more (wins)."

Halladay is 100-50 in 10 seasons.

Casey Janssen relieved Halladay and pitched a 1-2-3 eighth before Jeremy Accardo worked around a two-out walk to Jim Thome before getting Jermaine Dye to ground out for his sixth save in seven opportunities.

With no score in the bottom of the second, Hill hit a one-out, 1-1 pitch from Buehrle over the center field wall for a 1-0 lead.

"It was big for us to get that run early," Hill said. "Buehrle pounds the zone, throws strikes and gets guys to chase. I know I'm not a home run hitter, but I'll take it."

Halladay ran into minor trouble in the top of the inning when he allowed a leadoff single to Rob Mackowiak and a double to Juan Uribe to put runners on second and third with no outs. However, Darin Erstad grounded to first baseman Lyle Overbay, who threw home to nail Mackowiak at the plate. After Erstad was thrown out at second attempting to steal, Halladay induced Tadahito Iguchi to ground out to shortstop.

In the eighth, Thomas belted a 1-0 pitch from Buehrle into the left field seats to make it 2-0. It was his 243rd homer as a designated hitter, tying Edgar Martinez for first all-time among DHs.

"I was just happy to get one," Thomas said. "Buehrle was tough tonight. He kept floating balls away and got me twice early in the game. That last at-bat I just wanted to look inside and I got it."

Buehrle (2-2) proved to be the tough-luck loser, yielding just two runs and two hits in eight innings. He struck out five.

"It's a shame," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. "The guy gave up two hits and we lost the game. When you throw a game like that and you lose it's hard to think about."

The lefthander, who is 99-68 lifetime, has not won a game since April 23. He went 0-1 in five starts in May and lasted at least six innings in each of his last seven starts. However in those seven outings, Buehrle has surrendered nine home runs.

"It was just one of those games," Buehrle said. "I'm going to have games where I'll probably give up seven or eight runs and we'll win. It all evens out through the course of a season, but I certainly would have liked to get this win, not necessarily for me but for the team." A scary moment for Chicago happened in the sixth inning. On a 2-1 count, Erstad swung and missed on a pitch, crumpling to the ground and grimacing in pain.

"For him to go down, turning his back foot in the box is just horrible," Blue Jays catcher Sal Fasano said. "(Home plate umpire) Tim Timmons said he heard a pop. I didn't hear it because it was at the same time the ball hit my glove. It stinks because Darin is one of the most professional, hardest-working guys out there."

Erstad was helped off the field by the White Sox medical staff and replaced by Luis Terrero, who swung and missed for the second out of the inning.

"I believe he's going to miss a couple of weeks, that's what the doctors are saying so far," Guillen said. "His bone is fine. I believe he tore a little bit of his ligament."