Price outpitches Halladay, Rays beat Blue Jays 3-2 for 3-game sweep

Price, Rays complete sweep of Halladay, Blue Jays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Rookie David Price outpitched Roy Halladay, and Carlos Pena snapped a fifth-inning tie with a two-run double that helped the Tampa Bay Rays beat the slumping Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 Thursday for a three-game sweep.

Price (3-3) allowed one run and six hits in six innings as the AL champions beat Halladay for the second time in 11 days. The Blue Jays have lost 10 of 12 and fallen below .500 for the first time this season.

Halladay (10-3) pitched for the first time since Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi said he’s willing to listen to trade offers for the five-time All-Star.

The game was delayed for 20 minutes in the middle of the seventh when lightning struck a power substation near Tropicana Field and dimmed lighting inside the stadium, which has a permanent roof.

Toronto’s Scott Rolen, who has a career-best 25-game hitting streak, did not play. The Blue Jays normally rest him when they play a day game following a night game.

Grant Balfour bailed the Rays out of a tight spot in the seventh, retiring Kevin Millar and Vernon Wells with the bases loaded to hold on to the 3-2 lead. Dan Wheeler worked the ninth for his first save.

Halladay has won more games than any pitcher in the major leagues since 2002. The Rays have had his number lately, though, going 5-3 against the two-time 20-game winner over the last two-plus seasons. The only other AL team with a winning record against Halladay during that stretch is Boston (5-4).

Evan Longoria had a RBI single for Tampa Bay in the first, and Pena’s double down the left-field line with the bases loaded broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth. The Blue Jays scored on John McDonald’s RBI double off Price in fifth and Adam Lind’s bases-loaded single off Randy Choate in the seventh.

Halladay, who responded to Ricciardi’s comments by saying he wants to keep pitching in Toronto but is willing to consider accepting a trade, allowed three runs and nine hits in seven innings.

The 32-year-old right-hander walked none and struck out eight in his third start since returning from a stint on the disabled list with a groin strain. He lost 4-1 to the Rays on June 29 and worked seven innings but was not involved in the decision in Toronto’s loss to the New York Yankees on July 4.

Pena’s RBIs were his first since June 27, when he homered against Florida. The nine-game drought was his longest of the season.

Price, meanwhile, rebounded from the shortest start of his career (six runs in 1 1-3 innings vs. Texas) to walk one and strike out seven, including Lyle Overbay three times. The Blue Jays were 1 for 7 against the left-hander with runners in scoring position.

NOTES: Rolen is hitting .390 (41 of 105) during his hitting streak. … Toronto manager Cito Gaston will miss at least the first two games of the team’s weekend series in Baltimore to attend funeral services for his sister. Bench coach Brian Butterfield will fill in while Gaston is away. … Injured Rays 2B Akinori Iwamura, who’s expected to be sidelined at least until late August or early September, played catch in the outfield before the game. He may accompany the team on a road trip following the All-Star break to continue working with the training staff.