[ofhdhdy]

Game 3 Preview

Roy Halladay (0-0) 3.00 ERA

VS.


Scott Kazmir (0-0) 9.00 ERA

The Official Site of The Toronto Blue Jays: News: Toronto Blue Jays News

On Friday, the Jays surrendered four home runs to Tampa Bay. A day later, they saw two more from the Rays before designated hitter Frank Thomas stamped the series with his ninth career grand slam.

But if Friday and Saturday were slugging displays, Sunday's series finale at Tropicana Field has great promise to be a pitching showcase.

Toronto will send 2003 Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay, its Opening Day starter, to the mound for his second appearance. Halladay, a righty who went 16-5 a year ago, is hungry for his first win after earning a no-decision at Detroit on Monday. The four-time All-Star threw well in the game, permitting only two earned runs over six innings, but received little run support from his teammates -- who eventually scraped together enough offense to pull off a 5-3 win.

Halladay is 8-4 in 21 career appearances against the Rays, and holds a 3.28 ERA. In addition, he's 6-2 at Tropicana Field.

The Rays will give the ball to their ace, Scott Kazmir, to counter. Kazmir's coming off a rough debut in which the Yankees tagged him for five runs in five innings on Opening Day. The left-hander ran up his pitch count early against the Yankees and battled for control throughout, giving up five runs, walking four and hitting a batter in six innings.

The outing was a far cry from the 23-year-old who had just 52 walks in all of 2006, holding opponents to a .240 average, and Jays fans attending the Easter Sunday matinee shouldn't expect him to be that generous in the future. Kazmir is 2-2 with a 2.87 ERA in eight career games against Toronto.

The Jays are is 84-67 all-time against Tampa Bay, and 1-1 this season.