Baltimore Orioles: Roy Halladay pitched in memorable 23-1 Orioles win

Seventeen years ago at the end of September, the Baltimore Orioles had their biggest win, and it just so happened to be against the Toronto Blue Jays and Roy Halladay.

Sadly, the All-Star pitcher passed away on November 7 in a plane crash. We extend our deepest condolences to Halladay’s family, friends, and teammates.

As the baseball world looks back at his life and career, Orioles fans remember the day he brought great joy to Camden Yards.

Big win for the Orioles

On September 28, 2000, the Blue Jays were in town and young Halladay was a 23-year-old starting pitcher. During the 2000 season, his record against the Orioles was 0-3. Halladay had his worst season of his career in 2000 and his final game of the season was the bitter icing on the rotten cake.

He finished the season with an ERA of 10.64 and a WHIP of 2.202. There was little sign that this man would become the dominating force that would later win two Cy Young awards and be selected to eight All-Star teams.

Not Halladay’s best game

Halladay’s final game of 2000 was on September 28. In this game, the Orioles defeated the Blue Jays by a score of 23-1. While Halladay did not start the game on this fateful day, he did pitch against nine batters in the fourth inning where the Orioles scored 10 runs.

The Blue Jays started the game with Chris Carpenter on the mound. He lasted for three innings after giving up six runs. Believe it or not, but Carpenter also has his own Cy Young Award as well as a few World Series titles and All-Star Games under his belt, too. That late September day just was not theirs.

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Halladay was tasked with cleaning up the mess left by Carpenter, but it just wasn’t in the cards. After Halladay’s 0.2 innings, Lance Painter pitched for one inning. He gave up eight hits and eight runs. So, the first three pitchers for Blue Jays each gave up six or more runs. Finally, John Frascatore finished the game, holding the Orioles to two runs in the last 3.1 innings.

Everyone hits and scores

The Orioles simply took batting practice that day, but only three home runs were hit. Brady Anderson, Delino DeShields, and Brook Fordyce each hit one out of the park that day. DeShields hit a two-run dinger. The rest were solos. The Blue Jays only run of the game was a home run hit in the fifth by Darrin Fletcher off of starting pitcher Pat Rapp.

In that game, every single starter in the Orioles line up recorded at least one hit. Cal Ripken went three for four. DeShields had an epic day going three for four with five RBIs. And, Fordyce four for five with two RBIs. Brady Anderson tied Fordyce with four of his own RBIs. Only one Orioles starter did not record an RBI that day, Melvin Mora.

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Since that day, the Orioles have never scored more runs in one game. The team has only scored 18 runs or more 10 times.