Adam Lind #26 and Aaron Hill #2 of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrate a two-run home run by Lind against the Tampa Bay Rays at the Rogers Centre during an MLB game May 31, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Abelimages/Getty Images
For Brandon Morrow it was just a matter of trying to do more with less.
Pitching with less velocity but with much better control, Morrow was at the top of his game Monday night, throwing a no-hitter into the sixth inning to help the Toronto Blue Jays record a tight 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
It was the first of a big three-game showdown for the Blue Jays (31-22) against the Rays (34-18), their American League East rivals who entered the game with the best record in Major League Baseball.
And Morrow was certainly up to the challenge, opting to shave a few miles-an-hour off his fastball in exchange for added control and the ploy worked wonders.
Morrow carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning where it was finally broken up by Sean Rodriguez, who singled to centre.
In total, Morrow only allowed three hits over seven-plus innings of work to improve his record to 4-4 on the year.
Morrow, who has experienced control problems in the past, only struck out one batter but also walked only two.
Morrow's fastball can attain speeds of close to 100 miles-an-hour, but last night most of his heaters were in the low-90's.
"He did a good job," said Toronto manager Cito Gaston. "He didn't throw as hard but he kind of had a little bit more control out there tonight with his delivery and everything else. He kept us in the ball game.
"That's a tough ball club over there to pitch against and he did a great job."
Morrow said the plan was to try to pitch as deep into the game as possible.
"That was my main concern, trying to get deep into the game," he said. "Everyone else has been doing a great job of that and I kind of felt left out."
It was the first of a three-game set against the Rays for the surprising Blue Jays, who are plunging into the toughest stretch of their schedule so far this year.
After Tampa the Blue Jays will entertain the New York Yankees for three games over the weekend before heading out on the road to Florida for a three-game return engagement against the Rays.
That's nine straight against two of the teams the Blue Jays will have to conquer if they hold any hope of emerging from the shark tank that is the A.L. East.
The Blue Jays struck fast off Matt Garza, the tough Tampa Bay starter, scoring twice in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.
The runs were courtesy of Adam Lind, who swatted an opposite-field home run to left, his eighth home run of the year.
Toronto tagged on an insurance run in the fifth when Fred Lewis, who doubled with one out, scored from third on a bloop single to centrefield off the bat of Aaron Hill.
They would need it as Tampa scored two in the eight, highlighted by a triple off the bat of B.J. Upton that scored the Rays' first run.
Closer Kevin Gregg came on in relief in the ninth inning to record the save, but it was an eventful outing, with Toronto shortstop Alex Gonzalez throwing out Evan Longoria, the potential tying run, at the plate for the second out.
"It's a win in the division, so that's kind of the most important thing," said Lind. "Any time you have a win like that it's always great vibes in the clubhouse."
The Blue Jays finished the game with four extra-base hits, giving them 122 in the month of May, the most in any month in team history.
The 54 home runs in the month of May is the second highest total in the Major Leagues since 2000 when the Atlanta Braves tallied 55.
After the game the Toronto Blue Jays announced that they were optioning reliever Josh Roenicke to Triple-A Las Vegas.
The move was necessary to clear a spot for left-hander Brian Tallet, who will come off the disabled list on Tuesday and start the game that night.