Philadelphia Phillies beat Arizona Diamondbacks 3-0 as Roy Halladay is solid on the mound - MLB
The starter Roy Halladay returns to form as he leads the Philadelphia Phillies to shut-out the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-0 at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 4, 2012 in the second game of the three match series.
Halladay was solid in his spell of seven impeccable innings. Not allowing Diamondbacks many opportunities to strike hits, he ended up scoreless on Saturday.
It was the first game when Halladay gave the glimpse of his actual mastery as a hurler since he returned to the season after recovering from an injury.
This year has not been great for Halladay. Even before he was injured, his performance was far from impressive.
Therefore, the fact he was outstanding on Saturday will give him a lot of confidence as he comes to start in the upcoming games.
Besides him, the Phillies relievers finished their innings scoreless. It was uncharacteristic of them, in light of the fact that Philadelphia’s bullpen has been the most vulnerable to leaking runs late in the innings.
Offensively, the Phillies’ catcher Erik Kratz stood out. He struck a home-run in the game. Given the fact that it was a low scoring game, the homer was extremely useful for the team.
Apart from him, their first baseman Ryan Howard struck two hits in four at-bats.
The Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel was all-praise for Kratz. Impressed by the way he has improved his hitting immensely over the years, Manuel considers him a useful batter for the team.
"He's been good for us, of course," Manuel said. "He's improved his hitting 100 percent since I saw him two years ago. He's strong, he's durable, he's hungry to play in the big leagues. I like everything about him."
Meanwhile, Halladay is happy after watching the results coming off for him. The slight modifications that he brought about in his throws have worked.
"The last two games I feel things are going in the right direction," Halladay said. "I made some changes and it's nice to see the results, nice to see it pay off."
In spite of winning the match, Phillies cannot grow complacent as the loopholes in their offence still prevail. They will be looking to work them out and come out victorious in the last game of the series.
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