McGowan flirts with no-hitter in Jays win

By Roger Lajoie

TORONTO (Reuters) - Dustin McGowan took a no-hitter into the ninth inning and finished with a complete game one-hitter as the Toronto Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies with a 5-0 win on Sunday.

Jeff Baker singled to lead off the ninth inning to end McGowan's bid to become just the second pitcher in Blue Jays franchise history to pitch a no-hitter.

He settled instead for his first career complete game, with seven strikeouts and one walk.

"I noticed around the seventh inning what was happening and started getting a little nervous," McGowan said. "Time really stood still in the bottom of the eighth.

"It's great to pitch a game like this, but it's kind of tough losing the no-hitter."

Baker lined the second pitch from McGowan in the ninth up the middle for a clean hit to center field. The Rogers Centre crowd of 33,910 responded by giving the 25-year-old McGowan a standing ovation.

McGowan (3-3) then settled down and retired the next three hitters to complete his 109-pitch gem.

"He was just outstanding out there today, just in total control," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "That was a terrific performance."

Vernon Wells hit a three-run homer in the third inning to give McGowan all the support he would need, and Frank Thomas added a solo shot in the fourth, the 499th home run of his career.

Josh Fogg (3-6) allowed five runs on seven hits over six innings, striking out four and walking two, to lose for the first time since May 17, a span of five starts.

Toronto improved to 37-37 with the win, hitting the .500 mark for the first time since May 1.

*Ken Griffey Jr. hit a pair of home runs in the Cincinnati Reds' 3-2 loss at Seattle to the Mariners. His second homer was the 584th of his career, putting him into seventh place on the all-time list ahead of Mark McGwire.

*The Chicago Cubs completed a three-game sweep of the cross-town White Sox with a 3-0 win. Alfonso Soriano homered for the third straight game for the Cubs and threw out a runner at the plate in the fifth inning.

*The New York Mets completed a three-game sweep of the slumping Oakland Athletics with a 10-2 rout in the series finale. John Maine pitched seven strong innings for his eighth win of the season.

*The San Francisco Giants took the rubber game of their three games series by beating the New York Yankees 7-2.