Halladay leads Phillies to 5-3 victory over Blue Jays

TORONTO - As he walked off the mound and tipped his cap to a cheering crowd, it was as though Roy Halladay never left Toronto.

Fans wore his jersey throughout the Rogers Centre and applauded even when he warmed up. He earned a standing ovation as he took the mound and a sign hung in the outfield that read "Welcome home Doc. Please be gentle."

Halladay was hardly gentle in his return to Toronto after a December 2009 trade sent him to Philadelphia. He struck out eight while giving up three runs in his sixth complete game of the season as the Phillies beat the Blue Jays 5-3 on Saturday, sending Toronto to its third straight loss.

Toronto's former ace said he was anxious before the game and nostalgic for his years with the Jays.

"You know those first few years seem like so long ago, that until you're back here and you start thinking about where it all began and the struggles you went through and the things you came back from, you don't realize how long its been and sometimes how hard it was," said Halladay (11-3).

"It was a good reminder. I think you're always trying to look forward down the road, move forward, it was just kind of nice to take a step back and remember what it was like when I first came up and those first few years."

Halladay had been scheduled to return to Toronto (40-44) last summer until the G20 Summit forced the series to move to Philadelphia (53-31).

In that time, Halladay has been replaced by Jose Bautista as the Jays' star player. Halladay struck out Bautista in his first at-bat but Bautista answered in the fourth inning with his major league-leading 26th home run of the season that banged off the restaurant window in centre field to the roar of a crowd that was still behind the Jays.

"Jose hits a ball off the restaurant that stayed in the middle of the plate," said Toronto manager John Farrell. "There's not many pitches you get in the middle of the plate against Roy and he did a good job of it on that particular swing."

Blue Jays starter Carlos Villanueva gave up three runs on five hits through 6 2/3 inning and left to a standing ovation of his own with Toronto holding the lead and Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz on third base.

Jays reliever Luis Perez (1-1) took over and promptly gave up a two-run home run to Chase Utley on a 2-2 pitch that put the Phillies (53-31) up for good at 4-3.

Things got ugly in the ninth inning when Toronto reliever Jon Rauch had to be restrained by Farrell after he charged the home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez. Rauch gave up a single to Shane Victorino that scored Utley. Then the six-foot-11 pitcher argued Utley was tagged out at home and was ejected with his jersey pulled off, followed shortly by Farrell after he continued to fight the call.

It was Rauch's first ejection of the season, while Farrell was tossed for the second time in his debut season as manager.

"The first thing I told the umpire is it's a shame that he can't have an (earned-run average), because those runs are his," said Rauch.

"I think he directly affected the outcome of the game. He's trying to do the job the best that he can, but missing one I understand, the other one, who knows? He tossed me then. I wasn't even really arguing balls and strikes at that point and it got heated."

Villanueva had a shaky start after walking the first two batters he faced, giving up an RBI single by Ryan Howard to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead and throwing a passed ball to Raul Ibanez that allowed the runners to advance.

By contrast, Halladay popped up Aaron Hill then struck out two including a contested strike by Bautista, who argued the call with the home plate umpire before wisely returning to the dugout before he could be ejected.

After Bautista's homer tied the game at one, Philly regained its lead in the fifth when Jimmy Rollins hit a ground-rule double to drive in Ross Gload. Villanueva then loaded the bases and struck out Howard to escape the inning with the Phillies ahead 2-1.

Corey Patterson opened the bottom of the fifth with a triple after Utley earned an error with a botched toss to first base. A single by John McDonald scored Patterson to tie the game, then the Jays took the lead after Eric Thames hit a single into centre field to score McDonald and give Toronto its first and last lead of the game.

Halladay said he was relieved when the game was over, and that he had felt nervous before the game began.

"Once the game started I felt like it was a normal game," he said, "but beforehand it's hard to anticipate that kind of stuff when you're not really sure what it's going to be like, how they're going to react, stuff like that. So that was definitely different. Really once the game started, they were cheering for their players."

Toronto drafted Halladay as a first-round pick in 1995. He went 148-76 with an 3.43 earned-run average in 12 seasons with the Jays, winning his first Cy Young Award in 2003.

But Toronto could never take its ace to the post-season, and in 2009 Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos traded him to Philadelphia where he went 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA in his debut season to earn a second Cy Young.

He's already reached new heights with the Phillies that he never accomplished with Toronto -- a perfect game, a playoff appearance and a post-season no-hitter.

But a World Series victory still eludes him, and after a career with several highlights Halladay said he appreciated the opportunity Philly provided that he never had in Toronto.

"I think it's a chase, really," said Halladay. "Obviously the ultimate goal is to win a World Series but to be able to have a chance to try and do that and what we did last year, obviously our expectations were more than what we achieved, but I think more than anything it's to have a chance to chase it."

When he walked off the field at Rogers Centre, Halladay tipped his cap to the crowd. He exited the same way he entered -- to applause.