McGowan Settles for 1-Hitter Vs. Rockies

TORONTO – Dustin McGowan’s bid for the second no-hitter in Blue Jays’ history ended when Jeff Baker singled leading off the ninth inning and Toronto beat the Colorado Rockies 5-0 Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

McGowan lost his bid for the majors’ third no-hitter of the season when Baker lined an 0-1 pitch up the middle for a base hit. The Rogers Centre crowd then saluted McGowan with a standing ovation.

McGowan (3-3) retired the next three batters to finish off his first career shutout. He struck out seven and walked one over 109 pitches.

Dave Stieb threw the only no-hitter for the Blue Jays, September 2, 1990, at Cleveland. Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox and Detroit’s Justin Verlander have thrown no-hitters this season.

Frank Thomas hit his 499th career homer and Vernon Wells added a three-run drive for the Blue Jays (37-37), who got back to .500 for the first time since they were 13-13 on May 1.

The 25-year-old McGowan, a first-round pick in the 2000 draft, retired the first 10 batters he faced. Kaz Matsui drew a four-pitch walk with one out in the fourth and stole second, but McGowan struck out Matt Holliday and got Todd Helton to ground out.

McGowan was hit hard in his last start, allowing six runs and eight hits in just 1 2-3 innings to the Dodgers, his shortest start of the season.

Thomas led off the fourth with his 12th homer. It was the second in as many days for Thomas, who is one away from becoming the 21st player to hit 500. He struck out in his last two at-bats and finished 1-for-4.

Aaron Hill doubled in a run in the sixth for the Blue Jays.

The Rockies, who are 0-6 in Toronto, suffered their first series sweep of the season.

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

Notes:@ After starting at designated hitter for the first time in his career Saturday, Helton returned to first base. … The announced crowd at the Rogers Centre was 33,910.