Ryan Rowland-Smith, Ken Griffey Jr. lift Mariners, 3-2

At one point late Wednesday afternoon, Ryan Rowland-Smith walked out of the 100-degree sun and sat in the shade of the dugout, and he realized he was throwing a no-hitter against his favorite pitcher, Roy Halladay.

"I was joking with myself, saying, 'I guess this is what you have to do to beat this guy,' " Rowland-Smith said.

In only his second start since returning from Class AAA Tacoma, Rowland-Smith made for an unlikely candidate to outduel Halladay, the Toronto ace whose trade winds died down just in time to pitch Tuesday. But Rowland-Smith instead carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and even when he lost it, he kept the Mariners in position to leave Safeco Field with a 3-2 win.

Rowland-Smith allowed two runs, three hits and no walks in seven innings, with a start that allowed the Mariners to remain within 7 ½ games of first-place Los Angeles and lended stability to a struggling back end of the rotation.

"He pitched as good as I've ever seen him pitch," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "He was aggressive, threw strikes and kept the ball in the zone. What a tremendous start on an awfully hot day out there."

Early Wednesday afternoon, as Rowland-Smith met with catcher Kenji Johjima, team president Chuck Armstrong popped in to say two words: "Strike one." Getting ahead of Toronto's lineup, which is third in the league in hitting, allowed Rowland-Smith to pitch aggressively and keep his pitch count down.

"That's as focused as I've seen him," Wakamatsu said. "To me, he was locked in."

Rowland-Smith retired the first 18 of 19 Toronto hitters in 72 pitches, with only Kevin Millar reaching base after Rowland-Smith hit him with a pitch in the third. Rowland-Smith then retired the next 12 hitters until the seventh, when, in two swings, he lost just about everything: the no-hitter, the shutout and the lead.

The first hitter in the seventh, All-Star Aaron Hill, lined an 0-1 fastball just past the glove of diving shortstop Chris Woodward and into left field for the Blue Jays' first hit. Three pitches later, Toronto designated hitter Adam Lind smashed a hanging slider 412 feet to center to put the Blue Jays ahead 2-1.

To get out of the inning, Rowland Smith said, "I had to go back to attacking the zone and get the ball down."

In the bottom of the seventh, the Mariners loaded the bases against Halladay with one out for Ken Griffey Jr., who roped a 95-miles-per-hour fastball down the line for a two-run double that put Seattle back ahead 3-2.

"I saw a pitch I thought I could hit, and I was able to hit it, and it went down the line," Griffey said.

Mark Lowe pitched a perfect eighth on eight pitches, and then David Aardsma overcame a leadoff walk for his 25th save to preserve Rowland-Smith's first victory of the season.

"Before the game, I knew I was pitching against Roy Halladay, who's probably my favorite guy to watch, probably my favorite pitcher because of what he does," Rowland-Smith said. "To me, he's a guy that I watch and learn a lot from. To beat him, and to have the guys come back, it was huge. It was a great feeling."

Tom Wyrwich: 206-515-5653 or twyrwich@seattletimes.com