The first half of the Toronto Blue Jays season is complete.

The Jays finished up the first half of the 2009 season with a series loss to their rival American League East opponent Baltimore Orioles.

The Jays won the opening game of the series 2-0.

Rookie left hander Brett Cecil outpitched fellow rookie Jason Berken for the win.

Cecil was impressive and ended his day with the following pitching line (6.0IP, 4H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB 5K).

Cecil pitched in front of many family members and friends, as this was a homecoming start of sorts, as he is originally from nearby Dunkirk, Maryland.

Scott Downs returned to the closer’s role and recorded his ninth save of the season.

Scott Rolen’s career hitting streak ended at 25 games, 3 short of the all time Blue Jays record set by Shawn Green.

Game two of the series ended in heartbreak, as Melvin Mora won the game for Baltimore in walk off fashion 4-3.

Mora hit a walk off home run off of Jays reliever Jesse Carlson in the bottom of the 12th inning for the victory. The home run was Mora’s first in fifty games.

Ricky Romero pitched well for the Jays yet again (8.0IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB 3K), but ended up with the no decision.

In the series finale, the Jays sent rookie Marc Rzepczynski to the mound for his second start of the season.

Rzepczynski pitched well (6.0IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB 5K), but was outpitched by Orioles starter Brad Bergesen (6.2IP, 7H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 3K).

Oscar Salazar and Brian Roberts had big days for the Orioles as they took the series finale 4-2.

The Jays finish the first half of the season with a record of 44-46, in 4th place in the American League East.

What looked to be a promising first half for the Jays has turned into a terrible start, finishing under .500 at the All-Star break.

Roy Halladay will start for the AL in the 2009 All-star game, but will he be a Blue Jay come July 31st?

In other Jays news Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay will start Tuesday’s All-Star game in St.Louis for the American League and second baseman Aaron Hill will take over for original starter Dustin Pedroia, as the starting second baseman.

Pedroia will miss Tuesday’s midseason classic to spend time with his wife, who is experiencing health problems related to her current pregnancy.

The All-Star game festivities begin tonight at 7:30pm EST with the Home Run Derby.

This year’s contestants are:

American League

Carlos Pena
Brandon Inge
Joe Mauer
Nelson Cruz

National League

Albert Pujols
Adrian Gonzalez
Prince Fielder
Ryan Howard

In case you were wondering about the Roy Halladay trade speculation that has been flying around the world of baseball as of late.

MLB Fanhouse reports that for J.P Ricciardi to even consider a trade of Roy Halladay teams would have to offer a package similar to what Arizona gave up for Dan Haren or that of what Seattle gave up for Erik Bedard.

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/07/12/halladay-to-start-all-star-game-for-al

Haren was traded from the Oakland Athletics to the Arizona Diamondbacks on December 14th 2007 with Connor Robertson for six players.

Those six players were: Carlos Gonzalez, Brett Anderson, Aaron Cunningham, Greg Smith, Dana Eveland, & Chris Carter.

On February 8th 2008 Bedard was traded from the Baltimore Orioles to the Seattle Mariners for five players.

Those five players were: Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Tony Butler, Chris Tillman, & Kam Mickolio.

In the Bedard trade both Adam Jones and George Sherrill have become All-Stars for Baltimore.

The Halladay watch is on and the trade deadline is July 31st 2009. Let’s wait and see what happens.

This writer does not see Halladay going anywhere.