Battle of the Aces: Josh Johnson and Roy Halladay - Part 1
Baseball fans are always starving for a good rivalry and some intense action on the field. That is probably why the pitching of Roy Halladay and Josh Johnson was much more anticipated by the fans than the actual match itself between the Philadelphia Phillies
and the Florida Marlins at Sun Life Stadium, Miami on May 10.
The match was much awaited and it certainly lived up to the expectations. It was definitely a matchup of aces which was thoroughly entertaining for any avid baseball fan. The game marked the third time that the two extraordinary pitchers had come to face
each other in the field. The numbers that they present when they get together are simple mind boggling. It is not everyday that two of the top pitchers in MLB get to go against each other and battle it out.
"When you have those two horses going, you know it's a battle because you're going to have to scratch and claw for every run," said Chris Coghlan.
In the first inning when the match started, Halladay didn’t throw as hard as Johnson. He was much more effortless in the delivery of his pitches as compared to Johnson who was firing off one pitch after the other. It is normal for Johnson to sit 92-95 whereas
Halladay on a normal day throws 90-92, although he sometimes ramps it up. Halladay was swift and threw 12 pitches in the inning. He got Hanley Ramirez on a strike-out and Emilio Bonifacio was caught stealing.
The second inning saw Ryan Howard hitting a ball that cleared the high wall to the disappointment of the Marlins. Johnson had tried to pitch in the outside corner using a fastball but it ended up being thrown in the middle. Johnson then hit Ben Francisco
with a 1-2 riding fast ball as Pete Orr walked. The bases loaded quickly and it seemed like the game would end very soon. Halladay took a third strike which called up Rollins. By this time Johnson had fallen behind with two balls. Soon he unleashed a 96 mile
per hour fastball that Rollins fouled off.
In the second inning Johnson threw 29 pitches. In his past three starts he has already thrown 117 pitches twice and 114 pitches once. It looked like Edwin Rodriguez, the manager for the Marlins didn’t want Johnson to throw more than 110 pitches this time
around, so that their ace wouldn’t get tired.
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