ANAHEIM -- For much of the month of August, Jered Weaver has probably felt like he was stuck in the position he found himself in when Garret Anderson threw out John McDonald at third base to end the fifth inning Friday night in a 3-0 victory over Toronto before 41,131 at Angel Stadium.

After throwing a pitch that Reed Johnson stroked into left field for a single, Weaver's cleat got stuck on his follow-through. He rolled with the flow, flopping to the turf to prevent turning his ankle, and ended up on the seat of his pants.

What he saw when he turned around was Anderson nipping McDonald, who was trying to go from first to third, to end the inning.

Weaver got help standing on his own two feet again from many hands Friday, including reliever Scot Shields, who turned in his best outing in recent weeks. The Angels maintained their one-game lead over Seattle in the American League West.

For Weaver, the victory was tonic for a month in which he has been anything but effective. He entered his start Friday lugging a 6.08 ERA in August into the game. He was asked to pitch well against Toronto ace Roy Halladay, who was seeking to become the AL's fourth 15-game winner. The start became more meaningful for Weaver and the Angels (75-53) once Seattle (73-53) secured a 4-2 victory over Texas.

Weaver never allowed a runner to reach third base in six innings, thanks to Anderson, who threw out McDonald. It would have set up a situation with runners on the corners and two outs for Lyle Overbay, who is 3-for-5 lifetime against Weaver.

"I fell on my [backside] after that pitch, so I didn't know what was going on," Weaver said. "I got up and there was a ball going into third base. The throw was right on the money and it got me out of a situation there. I gave it up to [Anderson] when he came in. I didn't even see the play."

Fortunately for the Angels, Anderson saw it developing.

"It was going to take a perfect throw," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We'd have to hold the runner on, which would have created a big hole for Overbay in that situation. It took a perfect throw and we got the out. I can't blame [McDonald] for trying to take the base."

Weaver might have had grass stains on the back of his pants, but he whitewashed Toronto for six innings by establishing fastball command on the inner-half of the plate and getting his curveball over for strikes. He allowed five hits, one walk and struck out five. He pitched to contact, allowing nine fly ball outs against three ground-ball outs, and threw 64 of his 103 pitches for strikes.

Weaver (9-6), who hasn't won successive starts since he won three consecutive starts from May 14-25, made first-inning RBI singles from Vladimir Guerrero and Maicer Izturis stand up.

"Jered used a lot of pitches to get through six innings, but Toronto had a lot of good at-bats against him," Scioscia said. "He didn't give in."

Nor did reliever Shields, who had a 4.50 career August ERA entering this season. He has never gone through a stretch like the recent setbacks that catapulted his ERA for this August to 15.96.

Protecting a three-run lead in the eighth inning, Shields gave up a leadoff double to pinch-hitter Matt Stairs, but struck out Johnson with a cliffhanger of a curveball and struck out Overbay looking at a fastball on the inside corner. He then got Alex Rios to ground out to end the inning.

"I've always been slow in August," Shields said. "But I'm fine, mentally. When I lose my confidence, it's time to go."

Francisco Rodriguez earned his 32nd save, but not before Toronto tried to chase him. Rodriguez walked Frank Thomas and Troy Glaus with one out. After Aaron Hill flew out for the second out, Rodriguez threw a slider in the dirt that allowed the runners to advance. Rodriguez then preserved the victory when he struck out Gregg Zaun.

Halladay (14-6) lost for only the second time in eight starts. He gave up 12 hits in eight innings, walked none and struck out five. The Angels had five players with two hits each, including just-recalled first baseman Kendry Morales, who hit two balls sharply to the opposite field.

"I thought we did a lot of good things offensively tonight off such a good pitcher," Scioscia said.

For Weaver, the game was about continuing to get back on his feet.

"It kind of raises your level of intensity going up against a guy like [Halladay] and it's great to get one of those under your belt," he said. "I think that's the first big guy I've gone out and faced and gotten a win against. It was fun battling against him."

John Klima is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.