The Los Angeles Dodgers scored 10 runs for ace pitcher Brad Penny on Tuesday, so the Toronto Blue Jays responded with 12 runs for Roy Halladay on Wednesday.
Frank Thomas hit a grand slam and Gregg Zaun came within a triple of the cycle as the hometown Blue Jays hammered the Dodgers 12-1 in front of 24,413 fans at the Rogers Centre.
Frank Thomas whacks a grand slam in Wednesday's 12-1 Blue Jays rout.
(Aaron Harris/Canadian Press)
Zaun finished 3-for-3 at the plate with a home run and three runs batted in as Toronto avenged a 10-1 loss to Los Angeles the night before.
"Last night was rock bottom, to get booed by the home crowd," Thomas said. "I take that personally.
"It is a good feeling. They embarrassed us last night and we turned the tables today."
Thomas has smacked three slams and 10 home runs this season, bringing him to within three of becoming the 21st major-league slugger to reach the 500-homer plateau.
"I haven't played the way I am capable of playing and, I guess, the fans feel a little disappointed," Thomas said. "When it's going bad, you feel bad.
"But I'm not going to let it get me down. I still have a long way to go, a lot of games to make things happen."
Fredericton's Matt Stairs also homered in support of Halladay (8-2), who held the Dodgers to one run on six hits and one walk with four strikeouts over eight innings.
"To get that many runs early, and good defence, you can be aggressive," Halladay said. "It makes a big difference, especially early on [because] it takes a lot of pressure off you."
"We had some early chances and we capitalized," Thomas said. "Finally.
"That made the job very easy for Doc, instead of him carrying us every night like he always does. That was good for him."
Equally good was Halladay reaching a career milestone, ending the eighth inning by whiffing Marlon Anderson for strikeout No. 1,000.
"I think I got about 30 more years before I tie Nolan Ryan," Halladay joked.
Alex Rios and rookie Curtis Thigpen drove in two runs apiece for the Blue Jays (34-36).
"It just feels so good when guys are swinging and the balls are falling in," said Blue Jays infielder Aaron Hill, who had two hits and scored twice.
"How many times has that happened this year? It really hasn't.
"We know we have it. It's just getting it done."
"Wild card is a definite goal for this team," Thomas said. "And we're in a situation that, if we get everyone healthy, we can definitely make a run with this offence."
Andre Ethier went 3-for-3 with an eighth-inning home run for the Dodgers (40-31).
Los Angeles starter Hong-Chih Kuo (1-2) was raked for eight runs on six hits and two walks, retiring only five batters before being yanked in the second inning.
Reliever Brett Tomko fared a little better, giving up four runs on four hits over 3 1/3 innings pitched.
Eight-run outburst
Toronto erupted for eight runs in the second inning.
Thomas ignited the outburst with a leadoff double, advanced to third base on Hill's single and scored on Zaun's RBI single.
After Stairs walked, Thigpen singled in Hill and, after Kuo struck out John McDonald, Rios ripped a two-run double to make it 4-0.
Vernon Wells then popped out, but Troy Glaus walked to load the bases for Thomas, who cleared them with one swing of the bat.
Back-to-back homers by Zaun, his second, and Stairs, his 10th, to open the third inning put Toronto ahead 10-0.
In the fifth, Zaun delivered Hill with an RBI double and later scored on Thigpen's fielder's choice.
It remained 12-0 until Ethier cranked a solo homer in the eighth inning, spoiling Halladay's shutout bid.
With files from the Canadian Press
