MLB: Roy Halladay out pitches Lincecum to lead the Phillies to victory (Part 2)
The Philadelphia Phillies were facing their National League Championship opponent, San Francisco Giants for the 5th game in the series in the West league champions’ home stadium of the AT&T Park. The two sides were facing
for what could have been the last match in the championship. The stakes were high for the visitors and being 3 – 1 down in the games set meant this was either going to be a win or an exit from the post season.
Roy Halladay, Doc and the Freak, Tim Lincecum faced off for the second time in the competition and it was no surprise to see the two Cy Young Award winning compete on the grandest stages of the National League. Halladay was harbouring
an injury and everyone on the pitch knew the ball thrower was aching badly. With the day featuring two strong teams, the bout began with the Phillies taking the bat to the strike zone. Tim Lincecum was present on the mound and he was full into swing as he
retired all three batsmen in the first top inning.
San Francisco started with a fiery Andres Torre. The power hitter was in good knocking form and Halladay wasted no time in walking him to the first base. The move was a wise one to begin with, given Torre’s ability. It didn’t take
the Giants batsman long though, as he reached the third off Freddy Sanchez single to the centre. With a hitter on third, danger man, Aubrey Huff made his first appearance to the game. Fortunately for the Phillies he soon returned to his dugout when he lined
out to first.
It was Buster Posey who gathered the run from Torre as the new hitter grounded into fielder’s choice to second. The game had opened up and it was Torre who provided the run. The Phillies were not so fortunate and they were shackled
to the plate in the 2ndinning as Lincecum thwarted their advance. Roy got back to his pitching form and quelled the Giants attack in the bottom 2nd. With a run down, Philadelphia made an entry to the third top inning with Raul Ibanez.
The hitter was instantly successful as his single to the right centre got the cog wheels turning for the visitors. Next batter in was Carlos Ruiz and he set a record by getting hit the most times in the post season with 4 times.
Ruiz was on first and Roy came on as third batsman. The Phillies pitcher gave the side hope as he sacrificed to the catcher, thinking the ball went out to foul. Nevertheless, the impact was beneficial as the two base occupants
moved up on the diamond. Shane Victorino was up next and the batter singled to the first, but later on made way for the second base as first baseman, Huff stumbled. The fiasco in the third allowed both Ibanez and Ruiz to score the 2 important runs for the
side.
From an error, the Phillies scored two. With Victorino on 2nd base, Placido Polanco came in to face Tim Lincecum. He didn’t waste time in leading in a run as the hitter singled to the left centre and led Shane to the
3rd run for the team. The team was up by 3 runs and with the Giants sitting on 1, the game quickly went in the direction of the east champs. As the match progressed, runs became difficult to generate and the next knock came in the bottom 4th from
San Francisco. Pat Burrell set the motion for the second run when he doubled to the left, off Halladay’s delivery. Cody Ross, who has been in top form, came up next and punched a double to the right. The shot got Burrell to the dugout with two runs on the
board.
Tags: