Halladay dominates as Blue Jays spank Dodgers

Blue Jays 12, Dodgers 1

TORONTO (AP) -- Frank Thomas was in no mood to hear any more boos.

There was no danger of that after his grand slam -- and 497th career homer -- in Toronto's 12-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night.

The night before, the designated hitter was jeered by Toronto fans after popping out in his final at-bat in a 10-1 defeat to Los Angeles.

"[Tuesday] was rock bottom," Thomas said. "To get booed by the home crowd like that, I took that personally. That really hurt. It's one of those things where I wanted to bring an attitude into the game today. It worked out well for me."

Nothing worked out well for the Dodgers, who learned after the game that right-hander Jason Schmidt will miss the remainder of the season after having surgery on his right shoulder. Schmidt won't be ready to return until spring training 2008. He had an inflamed bursa, torn labrum and a frayed biceps tendon repaired.

"We knew he hadn't been throwing well," general manager Ned Colletti said. "It's been a concern for a few starts. Obviously it's a disappointment. We'll just have to figure out how to make it better."

Roy Halladay (8-2) pitched eight innings to win his third consecutive start and drop the Dodgers to 3-8 in interleague games this season. They've lost 21 of their past 23 games in AL parks.

Gregg Zaun and Matt Stairs also homered for the Blue Jays, who scored a season-high eight runs in the second inning.

Thomas chased Dodgers starter Hong-Chih Kuo (1-2) after just 1 2/3 innings. It was Thomas' second slam of the season and 10th of his career.

"An at-bat like that can turn your season around," Thomas said.

Zaun and Stairs hit back-to-back homers off Brett Tomko to begin the third. Toronto atoned for its most lopsided loss of the season, by matching its biggest margin of victory in 2007. The Blue Jays beat Philadelphia 13-2 on May 19.

Halladay improved to 4-0 in five starts since returning from the disabled list May 31 following an appendectomy. He has not lost since May 10, when he gave up seven runs in a 8-0 defeat to Boston.

The right-hander allowed one run and six hits over eight innings, walked one and struck out four.

"It's not a real good habit to get into, falling down 10 or 12 runs to one of the best pitchers in the game," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "They've got a tendency to be able to hold that."

Halladay got Marlon Anderson swinging to end the eighth, recording his 1,000th career strikeout. He's the fifth Blue Jays pitcher to reach the mark, joining Jim Clancy, Juan Guzman, Pat Hentgen and Dave Stieb.

"I've got about 30 more years before I tie Nolan Ryan," Halladay said.

Andre Ethier's solo home run in the eighth was the only blemish on Halladay's line. Ethier finished 3-for-3, adding a pair of singles.

"He happened to hang a pitch and I put a good swing on it," Ethier said.

Starting for the fourth time this season, Kuo was roughed up in the second, when the first five batters reached safely.

"He had a rough night," Little said. "It didn't go well for him at all. The grand slam by Big Frank just kind of put it over the top."

Thomas led off with a double, Aaron Hill singled and Zaun had an RBI single before Stairs walked and Curtis Thigpen singled home Toronto's second run.

John McDonald struck out before Alex Rios lined a two-run double down the line in left. Vernon Wells popped out, Troy Glaus walked and Thomas' slam made it 8-0.

Toronto added two more against Tomko in the fifth on an RBI double from Zaun and a run-scoring grounder by Thigpen.

Game notes
The last time Toronto hit back-to-back homers was May 1 at Cleveland, when Glaus and Hill went deep. ... Thomas had a slam off Tampa Bay's Casey Fossum on April 7, his first homer of the season. ... Plate umpire Eric Cooper left after six innings because of a pulled muscle. The game was delayed for eight minutes while Chad Fairchild put on protective gear and moved from second base to behind the plate.