Jays Rookie Loses 'No-No' In 9th

Rookie Roy Halladay almost put a flawless finish on the Toronto Blue Jays' season.

Halladay, pitching just his second major league game, came within one out of a no-hitter Sunday, losing his bid when pinch-hitter Bobby Higginson homered in Toronto's 2-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

"I told myself probably in the sixth, seventh inning that if I did lose it I wasn't going to be disappointed, but when it did I was little disappointed," Halladay said. "I don't want to look back and remember the home run, I want to remember the 8 2-3 up to that."

Halladay (1-0) earned his first victory in the majors, striking out eight and walking none. He threw a first pitch strike to 21 of 29 batters, went to two balls in a count on just five batters, and never had three balls against any hitter.

"I felt pretty good going into the game. They were swinging at a lot of first pitches, so I got a lot of outs on first pitches," Halladay said. "I didn't know what the end result would be, but I'm definitely happy with it and hopefully I'll be able to add to this in the next couple years."

The 21-year-old right-hander was trying to become the first rookie to pitch a no-hitter since Wilson Alvarez did it for the Chicago White Sox against Baltimore in 1991.

Roy Halladay, being congratulated by Blue Jays catchr Kevin Brown on Sunday, was 9-5 with a 3.79 ERA at Triple-A Syracuse this season. (AP)

Halladay had little trouble taking his no-hit try into the ninth inning. The Tigers' only runner until then was Tony Clark, and he reached on second baseman Felipe Crespo's error in the fifth inning.

Halladay began the ninth by retiring rookie Gabe Kapler on a fly ball to left field and got pinch-hitter Paul Bako on a routine grounder.

But Higginson, batting for Kimera Bartee, hit the first pitch for a no-doubt, opposite-field drive to left for his 25th home run.

Dave Stieb, who came within an out three times before pitching the Blue Jays' only no-hitter in 1990, caught the ball as it bounced off a wall and into the bullpen.

"Stieb told me congratulations, he was very excited for me," Halladay said. "To have him acknowledge something like that it made me feel good and hopefully somewhere down the road I'll get a chance to do it again."

Halladay then ended the game on his next pitch, getting Frank Catalanotto on a lineout to shortstop.

"I threw a fastball away to Higginson. I thought it was a good pitch but unfortunately that's what he was looking for," Halladay said. "It's tough to second-guess a pitch like that, but I'm happy with the pitch I made."

Higginson was indeed looking for the fastball.

"It felt good, he threw me a first-pitch fastball that I was looking for away and I got it up and away," Higginson said.

The crowd of 38,036 on the last day of the regular season gave Halladay a standing ovation.

Halladay's only other game in the majors came last weekend at Tampa Bay when he got a no-decision, allowing three runs and eight hits in five innings.

Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns pitched a no-hitter in his first major league start -- not his first game, however -- in 1953 for the Philadelphia Athletics. Holloman went 3-7 that season and never pitched again in the majors.

Halladay was the Blue Jays' first-round pick in the June 1995 draft and he was taken No. 17 overall.

Featuring an outstanding fastball, he made a quick rise through Toronto's farm system. He went 9-5 with 3.79 ERA at Triple-A Syracuse this season.

Toronto's best defensive play of the game came in the fourth when Juan Encarnacion hit a ground ball off the glove of Halladay. Shortstop Tomas Perez picked up the dribbling ball behind the mound and threw to first for the out.

Alex Gonzalez's 13th homer put the Blue Jays up 1-0 in the third. Shawn Green hit his 35th home run in the sixth, giving him 100 RBIs for the first time in his career.

Justin Thompson (11-14) gave up two earned runs on five hits in seven innings. He struck out eight and walked three.

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