Halladay pitches Phillies to victory
Roy Halladay was in tip-top form on Monday night, pitching his seventh complete game of the year as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Atlanta Braves 3-1 at home to take the first game of their three-game series.
Halladay rose to 10-7 on the year with the victory, which was the second time he’d managed to pitch nine innings against Atlanta thus far this year. Amazingly, he needed only 93 pitches to do it, striking out seven batters while giving up five hits and a lone walk.
"He pitched a super game,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “He’s a horse.”
Derek Lowe started the game for the Braves and pitched well throughout, giving up just two runs, striking out six batters and suffering two hits. Lowe, who drops to (9-7) on the year with the loss, held the Phillies scoreless until the sixth innings, when finally they broke through. Greg Dobbs hit a two run home run after Jayson Werth singled to get on base.
Braves manager Bobby Cox expressed frustration at his team’s inability to give Lowe much run support.
“Lowe pitched another great game. Again we didn’t score any runs for him,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said.
Lowe’s fine outing had been somewhat marred by Dobbs two-run shot, but a mark of a good team is their ability to support their pitcher when he receives a set back. It was something the Phillies did better on Monday.
Jones steps up, but Halladay shuts it down
Despite the loss, Braves’ veteran Chipper Jones said he was encouraged by his team’s play.
"We're playing solid baseball," Jones said. "We've got some injures right now, as they do. Everybody's got injuries. We just need to tread water until after the break, get healthy and take it the rest of the way."
Jones, who has been struggling somewhat this year, and is rumoured to retire at the end of the year, managed to get the Braves off to a good start with a solo home run in the first innings with two outs left. But Halladay was simply too good from that point on, and didn’t let in another run over the next 25 outs.
A Crucial Series
For the Phillies to make up ground, they need to win more games like these against the Braves. They currently sit fairly far back of the Braves in their division, and so every game where they can grind out a win will be crucial for their chances as a play-off run.
They won’t have Halladay every day on the mound though. The former Cy Young winner, with a perfect game on his record, now leads all active players with 56 complete games, a testament to his ability to get ground ball outs and make players put the ball where he wants them to, conserving his pitch count expertly.
With just a 2.33 ERA, his 10-7 record is a testament for Philadelphia’s inability to score runs- in his seven losses, the Phillies only crossed home plate a total of 12 times. It’s also a welcome turnaround, as in his first seven starts he went 6-1, and since then has gone just 4-6, although that’s with an ERA of 2.93 in that ten-decision span.
The win puts the Phillies at 43-38 heading towards the All-Star break, the exact same record as at this time in 2009. Only 17-23 in the previous 40 games, they’ll need to step it up to catch the Braves, who sit four games above them in a play-off spot at the top of the NL East division. For the Braves on the other hand, they’ll want to increase their road play, where they’re a disappointing 18-25 on the road, compared to 30-10 at home.
Tags: