ROY HALLADAY

THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
Roy Halladay bests Pedro at Skydome

May 16, 2004 ... A day after they fielded a lineup in which only one player (center fielder Johnny Damon) filled the role he was projected to play in spring training, the Sox squared off against Toronto's reigning Cy Young Award winner, Roy Halladay who outdueled Pedro Martinez to sink the Sox, 3-1, before 31,618 at SkyDome.

The loss dropped the Sox a half-game behind the Yankees in the American League East and ended their 20-game gauntlet at 10-10. The Sox, who led the AL East by two games when the odyssey began April 27, open a three-game series tomorrow against the Devil Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla., before they return Friday for a 10-game homestand against the Jays, A's, Mariners, and Orioles.

As much as the Sox tried to go on against Halladay, he foiled them at nearly every turn. They scored only in the first after Damon singled leading off. After Mark Bellhorn bounced into a fielder's choice, with Damon erased at second, Bellhorn advanced to second on David Ortiz's groundout and scored on Manny Ramirez's two-out single. Halladay, who scattered six hits and two walks while firing 124 pitches over seven innings, prevailed for the first time in three meetings this season against Martinez.

Martinez held the Jays hitless until Vernon Wells chopped a high- hopper to third and barely beat the throw from Kevin Youkilis for a single with one out in the fourth. It would have taken a spectacular play by Youkilis to beat the fleet Wells. Two pitches later, Martinez made his only serious mistake of the game, misplacing an 89-mile-an-hour fastball to Carlos Delgado. Delgado crushed it, launching a 383-foot blast to right for a decisive two-run homer.

No one blamed Martinez, who threw 111 pitches over seven innings, surrendering three runs on six hits and a walk while striking out six. Martinez slipped to 4-3 with a 3.75 ERA, but he submitted his third straight quality start. The Sox could win even more if they score a few more runs. They left the bases loaded in the fifth. They left runners at first and second in the eighth. And they ended the game going hitless in three tries with a runner on second in the ninth.

All told, the Sox hit .133 (2 for 15) against Halladay and a pair of relievers with runners on base. Youkilis did his part, singling to lead off the seventh and ninth innings, but to no avail.

Kevin Youkilis found himself clad afterward in a skimpy Hooters ensemble as he joined Lenny DiNardo as victims of the team's annual rookie hazing. Sox veterans typically wait until the end of the season to dress the rookies in drag, but they apparently were enticed by the prospect of watching Youkilis and DiNardo pass through customs as Hooters girls.

When Pedro Martinez fanned Kevin Cash in the third inning for his 2,479th strikeout, he passed Jack Morris for 27th place on the all-time list. Don Drysdale ranks 26th with 2,486.

Tim Wakefield, who remained in Boston with his wife, Stacy, after the birth of their son, was scheduled to work out at Fenway Park with Nomar Garciaparra as Wakefield prepared to face the Devil Rays the day after tomorrow. Francona said the knuckleballer would get his regular work done at Fenway but would not torment Garciaparra by pitching batting practice to him. Garciaparra was scheduled to play a few simulated innings before the team reevaluates his status today or tomorrow. Wakefield was expected to fly to Florida today.