Roy Halladay unwinds during his impressive performance Friday night against the Seattle Mariners. (Fred Thornhill/Canadian Press)Toronto Blue Jays starter Roy Halladay struck out nine batters and walked none to shutout the Seattle Mariners in his last home start of the season on Friday.
Halladay (16-10) went the distance in the 5-0 victory. He scatted seven hits to earn his eighth complete game of the season, all at the Rogers Centre.
Whether it was the last start of the star pitcher's Toronto tenure remains to be seen. Halladay, with one year left on his contract, was actively shopped at the trade deadline in July.
The 32-year-old was reluctant to talk about what might happen in the offseason.
"I haven't put a lot of thought into it," said Halladay. "The first week or two after the season may be different, but I have another year, I think that's where it stands right now and that's the way I look at it."
He will pitch once more this season, on Sept. 30 at Fenway Park in Boston.
Halladay received an ovation from the announced crowd of 20,668 at Rogers Centre and stealthily avoiding getting a pie in the face from his teammates after the outstanding effort.
"Regardless of what happens this winter, it means a lot to me," Halladay said of the ovation. "To have that many people that supportive and chanting, I think it would mean a lot to anybody.
"Especially walking off, I can't remember many times walking out for the ninth where people were cheering and standing up before the inning starts. Maybe I was more aware of it, I don't know, but you definitely feel the excitement and show your appreciation."
The staff ace hasn't received great run support many times this season, and Friday's game was scoreless until the sixth inning.
Toronto didn't get its first hit off Seattle starter Doug Fister until the fifth, but had a 4-0 lead by the end of the seventh.
Aaron Hill hit a two-run shot to lead the offence, his 34th home run of the season. Jose Bautista hit a two-run single and Lyle Overbay knocked in the final run.
"When you have the best pitcher in the majors playing on your team, and you enjoy playing behind him, it's always a little worrisome that you hear those kind of [trade] rumours," said Bautista. "We also realize that you can't control it and we just hope he can come back."
Halladay had a spot of trouble in the third when Ichiro Suzuki and Franklin Gutierrez hit back-to-back singles with one out, but he induced Jose Lopez into an inning-ending double play.
After 13 consecutive outs, Edwin Encarnacion got Toronto's first hit of the game and moved over to third on a Rod Barajas double.
Travis Snider was unable to capitalize, flying out to end the fifth.
Halladay settled into a groove after allowing a two-out double to Kenji Johjima in the fifth, retiring 10 batters in a row until Lopez's leadoff single in the ninth.
With Bautista aboard after a base hit in the sixth, Hill deposited a Fister pitch into the left-field bullpen. The second baseman has 103 runs batted in on the season.
Toronto added two more in the seventh. Snider and John McDonald hit one-out singles and came across home plate courtesy of Bautista.
Overbay hit his 33rd double off Mariners reliever Carlos Silva to score Encarnacion, who had walked, in the eighth inning.
Toronto improved to 70-84.
Fister went 6 2/3 innings for Seattle, yielding four runs and seven hits, while striking out five.
With files from The Canadian Press
