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  Friday, Sep. 22 7:05pm ET
Lidle dedicates victory to newborn son
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

TORONTO (AP) -- Cory Lidle has recorded both of Tampa Bay's last two wins. Unfortunately for the Devil Rays, there was quite a gap between them.

Darrin Fletcher
Darrin Fletcher (left) celebrates with Brad Fullmer after hitting a two-run homer in the sixth, Fletcher's 19th of the season.
The Devil Rays stopped their 10-game losing streak -- the longest in the AL this season -- as Lidle did not allow an earned run in six innings Friday night in a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Lidle dedicated the win to his newborn son.

"This win, and everyone after this, is for him," said Lidle, whose wife, Melanie, gave birth to Christopher Taylor on Monday.

Lidle (3-6), who was in Las Vegas to see the birth, gave up two unearned runs. The 28-year-old right-hander struck out three and walked three.

Lidle savored the win, especially after all he went though to rejoin the team in Tampa Bay on Thursday. Lidle flew out of Las Vegas on Wednesday and landed in Indianapolis, where he couldn't get a flight to Tampa Bay. He slept in the airport.

"I went to get a hotel in town, but there was a race in town so all the hotels were sold out," Lidle said. "I went to try to rent a van to sleep in, but all those were sold out, too, so I camped out on a seat in a terminal, but I got kicked out of there at three in the morning because they close the terminal, so I went to the baggage claim and slept."

Lidle didn't get back to Tampa Bay until 10 a.m. on Thursday, and then he had to take a flight to Toronto in the afternoon.

"That race killed me," Lidle said.

The Blue Jays pounded Lidle the last time he faced them.

"It was disastrous," said Lidle, who gave up nine runs in just 3 1/3 innings on July 29. "They were diving, so my main thing tonight was to pitch in a lot to get them off the plate. I also kept the ball down."

The Blue Jays, who had won their previous four games, entered the day 2 1/2 games behind Cleveland and Oakland in the AL wild-card race, and 4 1/2 behind New York in the AL East.

"Obviously it's a tough loss, but we can't do anything about it," Toronto's Darrin Fletcher said. "Lidle pitched well against us."

Tampa Bay rookie catcher Toby Hall got his first major-league hit in the second inning, and hit his first major-league home run in his next at-bat in the fifth.

"I was just trying to be aggressive, and it worked out good," said Hall, who hit a first-pitch fastball for the homer.

"I was a little nervous reading the lineup they had, but we kept them off-balance and Cory pitched great."

Tony Batista drew a leadoff walk from Roberto Hernandez in the ninth. After Fletcher singled for his fourth hit of the game, Jose Cruz Jr. sacrificed the runners into scoring position.

Mickey Morandini then grounded to first baseman Fred McGriff, whose throw to catcher John Flaherty nailed Batista at the plate. Hernandez struck out Shannon Stewart for his 30th save.

"It's a game of inches," Fletcher said. "They made the play on Batista."

The Devil Rays improved to 4-15 all-time in Canada, including 3-13 in Toronto.

Down 2-1 in the seventh, Toronto reliever John Frascatore (2-4) allowed a leadoff double to Felix Martinez before Randy Winn hit an RBI double to tie it. Kelvim Escobar relieved and Vaughn singled to center to give Tampa Bay the lead.

Esteban Yan pitched two scoreless innings and Hernandez relieved.

Hall gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead with his homer in the fifth.

After third baseman's Aubrey Huff's fielding error allowed Brad Fullmer to reach in the sixth, Fletcher homered to give Toronto a 2-1 lead.

Game notes
RF Raul Mondesi, who had elbow surgery in August, will return to the Toronto lineup Saturday. ... RHP Roy Halladay will start on Saturday. Halladay, who was in the bullpen, replaces RHP Joey Hamilton, who has a strained right shoulder ... The Devil Rays are just 3-16 in September. ... Fletcher hit his career-high 19th homer.
 


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